TV chef Guy Fieri was on the stand this week — over the incident during which is Lamborghini was stolen in 2011.
Fieri is known for his bleached ‘do and Food Network hit Diners, Drive-Ins, And Dives , but Monday he played the part of Joe Public — and left his flamboyant personality behind to do some unpleasant civic duty.
Two years back, the celeb chef was the victim of a blatant car theft, and the alleged thief stands accused of lifting the $200,000 yellow Lamborghini from a car dealership in San Francisco in March of 2011.
The Marin County teen accused of jacking Fieri’s ride further stands accused of another, more serious crime one year later — the alleged attempted murder of a former girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
NBC Bay Area reports that Guy only said a few words at the teen’s trial:
“Fieri’s testimony Monday afternoon lasted only a few minutes as he confirmed that he does not know Max Wade and did not give him permission to take his $200,000 car out of a San Francisco dealership on March 8, 2011. Guy Fieri testified Monday in the trial of a Marin County teen accused of stealing the celebrity chef’s bright-yellow Lamborghini in 2011 and then shooting at a romantic rival in Mill Valley a year later.”
After the testimony, Fieri said that the trial and the theft amounted to a “really crazy story,” saying he was glad the ordeal was nearly over and admitting that he “thought it was a bad joke” when his car was stolen.
“You never think a car like that is going to get taken from the dealership. I figured when we sent it down to them to get a warranty job that it would come back!”
According to Fieri, it seemed like at first theft of such a unique car was implausible — he explained:
Fieri said he was in Chicago filming his show “Dives, Diners and Drive-ins” for the Food Network when he heard the car had been stolen.
“Because the cameras were running when I answered the phone, I thought ‘Oh, someone is messing with me! This is a bad joke.’ But it wasn’t a bad joke,” Fieri said.
Fieri added that the car remained MIA for a year and a half, and said that he was plagued with yellow Lamborghini sighting reports:
“We would get calls all the time people saying, ‘Listen, I just saw your car on the freeway.’ Believe it or not, there’s more than one yellow Lamborghini in Northern California.”
But he also acknowledges that while he lost a car, others could have been affected way more:
“I’m sorry to see laws get broken… This has so many other facets that are far more important than my car. My car is a very small portion of it. There’s a bigger issue on the table.”
While Guy Fieri testified that the accused teen did not have permission to take the six-figure Lamborghini, lawyers for the defendant say the case is based on conjecture.