Stupid criminals of the week

CHP says driverless Tesla suspect has been arrested

A man suspected of being cruising around the Bay Area in the backseat of a driverless Tesla has been arrested, the California Highway Patrol said Tuesday, noting that he had also been cited late last month.

Param Sharma, 25, was arrested and booked into Santa Rita Jail on two counts of reckless driving and disobeying a peace officer, the CHP Golden Gate Division said.

The CHP on Saturday shared two photos on its Facebook page that show a man in the back seat of the car and what looked like an empty driver’s seat, saying it was aware of the “unusual situation” and asking the public to report any similar sightings.

The CHP said it received numerous calls Monday evening reporting someone riding in the backseat of a Tesla Model 3 with nobody at the wheel as it traveled eastbound on Interstate Highway 80 across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toward Oakland.

A CHP officer at the toll plaza located the car, confirmed the lone person in the backseat and made an enforcement stop, the agency said.

“The officer observed the individual move into the driver’s seat,” the CHP said. “The occupant then brought the Tesla to a stop on the shoulder of I-80 eastbound just west of Powell Street, where the officer arrested Sharma.”

Sharma had previously been cited “for similar behavior” on April 27, the CHP said.

Source; SF Gate

Man jailed for leaving driver seat empty says he feels safer in back seat

Well that didn’t take long…

The California Highway Patrol said it arrested a man seen riding in the back seat of a Tesla Model 3 that had no one in the driver’s seat. Param Sharma, 25, was arrested “and booked into Santa Rita Jail” on counts of reckless driving and disobeying an officer, the department said in a statement Tuesday. Sharma was arrested after multiple 911 calls on Monday around 6:30 pm reported a driverless vehicle “traveling eastbound on I-80 across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toward the city of Oakland,” police said.

Sharma spent a night locked up, and he “committed the same crime shortly after being released from jail,” according to a story yesterday by KTVU Fox 2:

Param Sharma met KTVU’s Jesse Gary in San Francisco Wednesday afternoon, not far from his mother’s high-rise apartment. After getting out of jail on two counts of reckless driving, he pulled up sitting in the back seat of a Tesla with no one in the driver’s seat.

When asked if he purchased a new Tesla after the previous one was impounded he said, “Yeah, I’m rich as [expletive]. I’m very rich.”

“I feel safer back here than I do up there,” Sharma also told KTVU from the right-rear passenger seat.

Sharma expressed confidence in Tesla’s self-driving capabilities in another interview with KTVU. “I’ve been brake-checked before really hard, and the car stopped. The car came to a complete stop. [Tesla CEO] Elon Musk really knows what he’s doing, and I think people are tripping and they’re scared,” Sharma said.

The officer who pulled over Sharma “observed the individual move into the driver’s seat” and then bring the car to a stop, police said. Police said they had already “cited Sharma on April 27 for similar behavior.”

Sharma this week also posted videos on Instagram of himself in the back seat of a moving Tesla with an empty driver’s seat. In one video, he is reading an article about himself titled “Man seen riding in the back seat of Tesla with no driver.” In a video posted yesterday, he says, “I just got out of jail. I already got [another] Tesla. You feel me, I’m rich like that. I came out of the pandemic a fucking millionaire, bitch.”

A California Highway Patrol spokesperson told Vice’s Motherboard that it is “recommending charges to the district attorney’s office” and “conducting a thorough investigation that will consider the possibility of previous incidents and obviously his social media.”

Source; ArsTechnica

Businessman Charged With Selling U.S. Air Force Technical Data

A Department of Defense contractor was arrested Wednesday on charges that he unlawfully sold United States Air Force technical data to an Orange County [California] man who illegally resold the data to customers.

Marc Chavez, 53, of Trabuco Canyon, was arrested for buying and reselling the technical data, while Sarfraz Yousuf, 43, of Miramar, Florida, was arrested for unlawfully selling the information.

In September, multiple arrests were made after investigators discovered that civilian employee of the United States Navy downloaded technical drawings and manuals related to U.S. military weapons systems and sold the items to a Newport Beach company, which later resold the documents to domestic and foreign customers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. An affidavit filed with the complaint during an investigation into a U.S. Navy employee’s unlawful sale of government-controlled technical drawings to a Newport Beach-based company.

At that time, they arrested four defendants, including two from Orange County George Posey IV, 36, of Costa Mesa, an employee of Newport Aeronautical Sales Corporation (NASC), a Newport Beach company that sells technical aircraft data and Dean Mirabal, 52, of Costa Mesa, another NASC employee.

Chavez is expected to appear in federal court in Santa Ana.

Each man is charged with one count of theft of government property, and Yousuf is expected to make his initial appearance in United States District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Law enforcement discovered NASC also illegally obtained U.S. Air Force technical orders from the users of an email account used by Yousuf, an employee of Summit Aerospace Inc., a Miami-based aircraft maintenance company, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

The technical orders at issue, in this case, are documents that cover installation, operation, maintenance, and handling of Air Force equipment and material, according to the affidavit.

During the investigation, law enforcement also discovered Chavez illegally acquired Air Force technical orders from Yousuf on behalf of LTC Products, a Trabuco Canyon-based company selling technical aerospace data that Chavez ran out of his home, the affidavit states.

From January 2015 to July 2020, Chavez allegedly unlawfully acquired at least 1,875 Air Force technical orders from Yousuf in exchange for at least $132,280. Yousuf was not authorized to sell the technical orders and Chavez was not authorized to receive them.

In June 2020, Yousuf allegedly sold 34 Air Force technical orders to Chavez, including one marked with a distribution statement reserved for “technical data of such military significance that release…may jeopardize an important technological or operational military advantage of the United States” and containing overhaul instructions related to a “Rate Gyro Assembly Flight Control,” for $2,170. Chavez allegedly resold the orders to customers for a profit.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Source; MSN

Santa Barbara college students rescued when boat made of buckets, kiddie pools drifts out to sea

I sure as hell hope these aren’t engineering students.

Two students in their 20s with more creativity than common sense had to be rescued off the Santa Barbara coast when their homemade boat made from buckets and kiddie pools drifted out into the ocean.

The two men had built their un-seaworthy craft by using duct tape to lash together 20 Home Depot buckets and two plastic kiddie pools on a piece of plywood.

They went out on the water off Isla Vista around 2 a.m. Saturday.

If Nautical Nonsense Is Something You Wish-Two male students in their 20’s were rescued unharmed at 2:37 a.m. Sat off Isla Vista after they were unable to return to shore in their boat fashioned from duct tape, buckets, and kiddie pools. Alcohol was not a factor. *Call Newsline* pic.twitter.com/Ug568BY9EF

— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) May 8, 2021

They had a paddle but no wetsuits. It didn’t take long before the tide had pushed their “boat” out too far from shore and they were unable to make their way back, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.

Fortunately someone spotted them floating out on the water before they got too far. Authorities were notified and they were rescued within about 30 minutes.

No alcohol was involved, says the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, which referred to the incident as “Nautical Nonsense.”

Source; ABC7

Man arrested after claiming he was an undercover CIA agent during Brook Park traffic stop

A Parma man was arrested over the weekend for reportedly impersonating a federal officer during a traffic stop, Brook Park [Ohio] police said.

According to a U.S. District Court affidavit, Gregory Candea was pulled over by Brook Park police on Saturday around 10:15 p.m. for reportedly driving through a stop light with blue lights flashing from the inside of his Ford F-350.

When the officer asked what he was doing, Candea reportedly said he was actually an undercover CIA agent. However, he was unable to prove his CIA affiliation and instead reportedly gave the officer an FBI badge instead, claiming he also worked for that organization. Candea was reportedly wearing a CIA T-shirt at the time of the traffic stop.

Calling in for backup, the officer was joined by another Brook Park police officer and were able to get Candea to step out of his vehicle. At the time he not only reportedly told the officers he also worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, they could also see a DEA badge inside the car.

After checking into Candea, police discovered multiple warrants already out for the man’s arrest. It was also confirmed Candea was not a member of the FBI.

The FBI confirmed to Brook Park officers that Candea was not an FBI agent, according to the affidavit. Authorities found that warrants were out for Candea’s arrest.

At the time of the arrest, officers asked Candea why he never appeared in court before, which led to his arrest warrants. He reportedly replied “I never go to court, I have too much authority in the United States,” the affidavit said.

Source; Fox8

 

Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, Police, WTF?