Police are investigating a street race between two high-performance exotic cars in Beverly Hills that garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube — and the man claiming to own the cars says he is protected by diplomatic immunity.
Updated Article: LaFerrari Driver Might Have Left Country
The video shows a white Porsche 911 and a yellow Ferrari LaFerrari, a hybrid supercar with a combined horsepower rating of around 950, speeding through a residential tract at high speeds on Saturday evening in the 700 block of North Walden Drive. It includes an exchange between a journalist who captured the video and a man outside the house where the Ferrari was parked.
Video journalist Jacob Rogers said the man confronted him over his filming.
"He told me verbatim, 'I could have you killed and get away with it,'" Rogers said. "I told him, 'the press is allowed to be here on the sidewalk on a public street.' He said, '(Expletive) America' and threw a cigarette at me."
At one point the cars speed through a stop sign. The LaFerrari appears to nearly sideswipe the car of another motorist that's not involved in the street race.
The video ends when the Ferrari's engine starts smoking and pulls back into the driveway. Police could be seen arriving in the neighborhood.
A new LaFerrari carries a price tag of about $1.5 million, but KBB told NBC4 the car could fetch up to $5 million.
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Neighbors were furious.
"The kids were terrified and the neighbors were out and this woman was screaming 'cause her husband almost got run over," said Roya Levian.
Police said they did not see the violations and "could not take any law enforcement action such as a citation or arrest," according to a news release.
While police were conducting their investigation, they were approached by a man who said the vehicles belonged to him and denied speeding, running stop signs or driving recklessly.
He said he had diplomatic immunity.
Police said they have been in contact with the United States State Department about the diplomatic status of the people involved and the legality of the vehicles driven on the road. The license plate of the Ferrari belonged to Qatar.
The renters of the $10 million home where the cars were seen did not want to talk to NBC4 on Monday.
