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16th May 2021

Man arrested for riding in back seat of driverless Tesla buys new car and does it again

A man who was arrested for riding in the back seat of a driverless Tesla carried out the same stunt in a brand new Tesla when he was released from prison.

Claudia McInerney

“I’ll just get a new Tesla every time… I have unlimited money to blow on Teslas”

A 25-year-old man who was arrested for riding in the back seat of a driverless Tesla vehicle carried out the same stunt in a brand new Tesla when he was released from prison.

Param Sharma, from San Francisco in California, was arrested for reckless driving and disobeying a peace officer earlier this week, the California Highway Patrol said.

Sharma was booked into Santa Rita jail in Dublin, California, and the Tesla he was operating was towed away for evidence, according to police.

However, shortly after he was released from jail on Tuesday, the 25-year-old bought a new Tesla and carried out the same stunt that landed him in jail.

As reported by the Independent, Sharma reportedly arrived in the back seat of a new driverless Tesla for an interview with Bay Area news station KTVU.

When asked by KTVU if he bought the new Tesla after the first one was towed, Sharma said: “Yeah, I’m very rich.”

Pointing at the back seats, he told the reporter: “I feel safer back here than I do up there.”

Sharma took to Instagram to show off his new car.

In a video posted on his account, he is heard saying: “I just got out of jail, I already got a Tesla.

“I’m rich like that. I came out of the pandemic a f****** millionaire.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/COy-f9FjFNH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Experts claim that relying wholly on tech to operate a car can be dangerous.

Nick Josefowitz, chief of policy for SPUR, said: “There are 2,500 people that die or get seriously injured every year in the Bay area, on our roads. And it’s just the height of irresponsibility.”

Sharma is set to appear in court in July later this year.