GRAND THEFT AUTO

The "owner" of the Ferrari Enzo destroyed in a February high speed crash has been arrested because the car was hot:

Sheriff's deputies have arrested the Swedish video game executive who crashed in a rare Ferrari in Malibu in February, alleging that he didn't own that car and others in his $3.5-million exotic car collection, authorities said Sunday.

Stefan Eriksson faces grand theft charges after detectives raided his gated Bel-Air estate Friday night, spent six hours searching it and then took him into custody Saturday night.

Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said detectives concluded that the wrecked Ferrari, a red Enzo — as well as a rare Mercedes and a second, black Enzo — were owned by British financial institutions.

The cars were purchased in Britain last year when Eriksson lived there. He apparently brought them to Los Angeles when he moved here. But financial institutions that held titles to the cars informed detectives that payments had lapsed, Whitmore said.

Eriksson was an executive with Gizmondo, a European video game company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year with more than $200 million in debt.

Eriksson is no stranger to jail, with a prior arrest for counterfeiting. The guy was always suspect; a Swede driving a Ferrari just ain't right.