MAN DRIVES $1 MILLION CAR INTO SHALLOW GALVESTON LAGOON—LANDS IN DEEP TROUBLE WITH FEDS

A man from Lufkin pled guilty last week to federal fraud charges for driving his exotic sports car into La Marque lagoon near Galveston for the primary purpose of collecting on his auto insurance policy.  Federal authorities say that Andy Lee House paid for a 2006 Bugatti Veyron with a $1 million loan and insured the vehicle for $2.2 million.  His intentional damage to his exotic sports car was, unknown to him, captured on a cell phone camera of a passing motorist who was enamoured by his unique car.  That video subsequently went viral on YouTube and other social media sites.  To date, over 7 million people have seen the cell phone footage of the crash, including federal law enforcement authorities.  The YouTube video can been see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NJmB1F2mdE

The video was apparently taken because only 200 such vehicles were ever built.  Although the Bugatti Veyron can reach speeds of over 200 miles per hour, it wasn’t the speed that caused him to swerve into the inter-coastal bay.  The owner initially told investigators it was a pelican.  House allegedly told authorities in November of 2009 that he was reaching for his phone in the floor board when he looked up and saw the allegedly responsible bird.  That was his story until a fellow-driver’s cell phone video went viral and showed otherwise. House’s scheme not only cost him a world-renown vehicle, but could also result in his spending the next 20 years in prison for attempted insurance fraud.  After last week’s guilty plea, he is awaiting sentencing at this time.