A Ferrari F50, like this one, was wrecked while impounded by the FBI.
You break it, you bought it.
That’s what Motors Insurance Corp. is telling the FBI after learning that an agent apparently wrecked a Ferrari F50 that was supposed to have been stored in a government impound lot.
The story starts out in September 2003, when the $750,000 supercar was stolen from a dealership in Rosemont, PA. The insurance company paid off on the loss while police went looking for the car. While it might seem difficult to hide such an exclusive automobile, the Ferrari F50 wasn’t recovered until August 2008, when authorities discovered it in Kentucky.
Oddly, the story gets even more murky once the supercar landed in police hands.
The F50 was supposed to remain in a secure storage lot while authorities prosecuted the thief. But it appears that at some point, it was taken out for a ride and had a close encounter with a tree. Learning that the car was wrecked, Motors Insurance sent the FBI a $750,000 bill, which the feds have repeatedly rejected.
Frustrated by the lack of information about what actually happened, the insurance company finally filed a Freedom of Information request. Most of the material was redacted, but one document that was readable was an e-mail from as assistant U.S. attorney, J. Hamilton Thompson.
It turns out he was a passenger in the Ferrari, on May 27,2009, when FBI Special Agent Fred Kingston decided to take a drive – in the process losing control and crashing just seconds after it was driven out of the FBI warehouse.
Confronted with the additional information, FBI officials are now studying the matter to see whether they might have to pay up. No word on whether Agent Kingston was disciplined or ticketed.