Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Norwegian corporate pilot and mechanic Sigrud Henriksen was in Palm Beach County to take care of some paperwork for business associate Bjorn Larsen, an investor with properties and interests in Florida.
Larsen authorized Henriksen to check on Larsen's airplane at the Boca Raton airport and stay at Larsen's residence in Boynton Beach.
And to drive his 2004 Bentley. But, Larsen said this morning from southern Norway, "not as an entertainment vehicle."
Authorities say the pilot was driving the car at an airplane-like 100-mph down State Road A1A early Sunday, trailing police cars, when he crashed into a guardrail.
He then ran away, leaving behind two injured passengers, one of whom had a broken arm, authorities said.
The crash is one of two that occurred days apart at Manalapan's treacherous Chillingworth Curve, and, remarkably, both involved Bentleys, luxury cars that often run in the six figures.
Henriksen, 49, of Kristiansand, Norway, turned himself in to Manalapan police Tuesday morning.
This morning, Judge Krista Marx ordered Henriksen held in lieu of $3,000 bail, with an alternative of supervised release.