Earlier this year, Motors Insurance sued the FBI over a wrecked Ferrari. An agent of the FBI was moving the vehicle when an accident occurred that severely damaged the car. The Justice Department said that the FBI was “immune” to these kinds of tort claims. Now, a judge has heard the case, and made a decision about it.
It all started with a 1995 Ferrari F50. This type of specially designed “race vehicle” is rather rare, and is something that many people would consider to be a “dream car”. The Ferrari was stolen in 2003 from a car dealer that was located in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Five years later, in 2008, the car was found somewhere in Kentucky.
There were many unanswered questions about how, exactly, the Ferrari got from one location to the other. The FBI was keeping the vehicle in a garage until more was discovered about the circumstances surrounding its theft and discovery.
For some reason, in 2009, the FBI decided to move the car from the garage that it was being stored in. An FBI agent named Fred Kingston was the person who drove the Ferrari so that it could be moved. He invited Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson to accompany him on what was expected to be a “short ride”.
Unfortunately, this was when an accident occurred. The FBI agent lost control of the vehicle seconds after leaving the parking lot. The Ferrari was going around a curve in the road when the rear of the vehicle started sliding. The car ended up going off the road, and into a row of bushes and a small tree.
The result was that the very expensive Ferrari was severely damaged. The two men who were in the vehicle were mostly unharmed. (One required a few stitches). Motors Insurance, the company that insured the Ferrari, declared the vehicle to be “totaled”.
The insurer sued the U.S. Department of Justice for $750,000. The insurer believed that the FBI agent and the attorney were taking a “Joy Ride” when the accident occurred. The Justice Department refused to pay this money to Motors Insurance, and claimed that it was “immune” to tort cases that are in regards to goods that are in the hands of law enforcement.
The insurer responded by saying that the vehicle wasn’t actually “in custody” when the accident occurred. It also claimed that it had granted permission for the government to hold the car. The implication is that the accident happened when the FBI agent removed the vehicle from custody, against the permission of the insurer. Or, at least, that is my understanding of it.
Now, a judge has heard what I have been calling “The Case of the Wrecked Ferrari”, and has made a decision. U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn decided to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge noted that federal law grants immunity if property is being held by law enforcement. This means that the insure cannot sue, and will not be getting $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice for the wrecked Ferrari.
Image by Damian Morys Foto on Flickr