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Bankrupt Runaway Prius Driver Faked "Unintended Acceleration?" Hoax Reports (merged)

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Old 03-13-10, 11:13 PM
  #76  
jackblack7
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Hopefully some kind of criminal charges can be pursued, though I'm not sure exactly what. False reporting maybe? I agree Toyota probably won't do anything. Not only is it bad publicity, but the guy is already bankrupt. They don't have much to gain there.
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Old 03-14-10, 01:18 AM
  #77  
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Originally Posted by I8ABMR
still means nothing. This is smelling of BS and a bit of a stretch, but just because he was having financial issues is not enough to prove crap. You guys are stretching things. This toyota crap wouldnt blow over even if he was full of it.
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Old 03-14-10, 05:45 AM
  #78  
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Originally Posted by madoka
NOPE. It's questionable whether Sikes broke any criminal laws. Therefore officials will likely do nothing. Toyota needs to make a lesson out of this liar in civil court.
If it is ultimately found that James Sikes' 911 call was a fraud and that his entire "run-a-way" ordeal was a hoax, He *will* be arrested and charged. Especially if it were for financial gain, which he has already admitted to.

Quote: "All I want is for Toyota to buy me a new car"

What a scumbag.
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Old 03-14-10, 06:36 AM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by IS350jet
If it is ultimately found that James Sikes' 911 call was a fraud and that his entire "run-a-way" ordeal was a hoax, He *will* be arrested and charged. Especially if it were for financial gain, which he has already admitted to.

Quote: "All I want is for Toyota to buy me a new car"

What a scumbag.
I hope he gets charged with reckless endangerment also, extortion and whole slue of charges. I hope this guy never gets out of prison.
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Old 03-14-10, 08:28 AM
  #80  
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Originally Posted by madoka
NOPE. It's questionable whether Sikes broke any criminal laws. Therefore officials will likely do nothing. Toyota needs to make a lesson out of this liar in civil court.
What... I heard that driving 90MPH for 20 minutes is against the law(reckless driving is Criminal, not civil... at least in VA). So is making a false statement to the police.
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Old 03-14-10, 06:30 PM
  #81  
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Originally Posted by tqlla3k
What... I heard that driving 90MPH for 20 minutes is against the law(reckless driving is Criminal, not civil... at least in VA). So is making a false statement to the police.
Yea, I was thinking the same thing. If he was faking and it's proven, at least give him a huge speeding ticket....

Still, he is a moron...I would love to see him get hit with a $100K fine or something for doing this to toyota...
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Old 03-14-10, 09:09 PM
  #82  
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Originally Posted by tqlla3k
What... I heard that driving 90MPH for 20 minutes is against the law(reckless driving is Criminal, not civil... at least in VA). So is making a false statement to the police.
What you guys seem to be unaware of is that the CHP is NOT going to pursue the matter. What were the damages? Nothing as far as they are concerned. Good luck convincing a prosecuter taking on the case when the CHP won't even bother to investigate. Here's what they said:

"Brian Pennings, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, said his agency's view that there is no evidence of a hoax is unchanged. The CHP does not plan to investigate the incident because there were no injuries or property damage.

"Unless they can completely disprove Mr. Sikes, we're done," Pennings said. "It doesn't sound like they can do that."

Consequently, it's up to Toyota to pursue the matter in civil court.
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Old 03-14-10, 09:43 PM
  #83  
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Nothing will happen to this guy. You will see. He may get a fine and even then its not likely.I think people are letting the Toyota bias blur their vision a bit. Being mad doesn't mean that the guy is getting fined or going to jail . For Toyota to go after this guy would be a PR issue. It would make Toyota look like a bully and it still doesn't negate the fact that they are still in deep ish.

Its kind of like the clowns at Toyota PR sending recall info to the council people stating all of the recalls for the big three. All you are going to do is look like you are shifting the blame or attention but the fact still remains that they are still not out of the woods

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Old 03-14-10, 10:09 PM
  #84  
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Originally Posted by madoka
What you guys seem to be unaware of is that the CHP is NOT going to pursue the matter. What were the damages? Nothing as far as they are concerned. Good luck convincing a prosecuter taking on the case when the CHP won't even bother to investigate. Here's what they said:

"Brian Pennings, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, said his agency's view that there is no evidence of a hoax is unchanged. The CHP does not plan to investigate the incident because there were no injuries or property damage.

"Unless they can completely disprove Mr. Sikes, we're done," Pennings said. "It doesn't sound like they can do that."

Consequently, it's up to Toyota to pursue the matter in civil court.

Yup, i agree. I don't think he'll see any punishment. Even if they prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. What I don't understand is why doesn't the CHP want to pursue this. If he was faking it, then he really did put a lot of people at risk by going 90+mph, and police was right there witnessing it.

But make them chase a balloon and you're looking at jail time.
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Old 03-15-10, 08:07 AM
  #85  
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Originally Posted by madoka
What you guys seem to be unaware of is that the CHP is NOT going to pursue the matter. What were the damages? Nothing as far as they are concerned. Good luck convincing a prosecuter taking on the case when the CHP won't even bother to investigate. Here's what they said:

"Brian Pennings, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, said his agency's view that there is no evidence of a hoax is unchanged. The CHP does not plan to investigate the incident because there were no injuries or property damage.

"Unless they can completely disprove Mr. Sikes, we're done," Pennings said. "It doesn't sound like they can do that."

Consequently, it's up to Toyota to pursue the matter in civil court.
I was responding to your post "It's questionable whether Sikes broke any criminal laws".

The answer would be --- Yes, he did break several criminal laws, if his story is a hoax ---
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Old 03-15-10, 08:30 AM
  #86  
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Originally Posted by tqlla3k
I was responding to your post "It's questionable whether Sikes broke any criminal laws".

The answer would be --- Yes, he did break several criminal laws, if his story is a hoax ---
Isn't this like "filing a false report" or something?? Otherwise, anyone could just call 911 with a hoax any time, and as long as there were "no injuries or property damage" there are no consequences. This makes no sense. You could call in a fire at 123 Main Street at any time under that explanation.

They just have to prove it was a hoax--and merely being unable to replicate the stuck gas pedal doesn't prove anything.
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Old 03-15-10, 09:24 AM
  #87  
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Any more additional news about this Sikes guy?
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Old 03-15-10, 02:14 PM
  #88  
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http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/15/auto...dex.htm?hpt=T2
*
Data from on-board computers indicated that Sikes had applied the brakes and gas pedal, alternately, at least 250 times during the incident, Toyota executives said.
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