Manhattan real estate broker James Ferrari swears that it's just a massive coincidence that he happens to drive a 2003 Ferrari Modena. "There’s no relation...It was just a car," he told the Post. But Ferrari doth protest too much—why would he spend the last six years seeking retribution for its defilement at the hands of local police unless it was...personal?
Oh, maybe because the car was valued at $110,000. Maybe that would do it.
According to the Post, Ferrari was pulled over in 2009 for speeding and drunk driving near his summer home in Bellport, and Suffolk County cops impounded the car. When Ferrari petitioned for his car back, a judge ruled in favor of the police, saying they had probable cause to keep it; this led to a forfeiture proceeding, which led to Ferrari giving up his title in 2012.
The car was eventually auctioned off for an undisclosed sum by the county, and Ferrari sued the county in federal court in turn. Now, three years after he sued, Ferrari was awarded $95,000 (which is only $15,000 shy of what Ferrari had claimed it was worth!).
"I’m very happy that it’s done with," he said outside his West Village home yesterday. "The government taking people’s property isn’t right." Especially when that property is your family and/or worth $110,000.
