F-C

In race with police cruiser, Lamborghini tanks
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BY DIANE C. WALSH AND TOM HAYDON
Star-Ledger Staff
The standard-issue Crown Victoria cruiser was no match for the 2006 Lamborghini.

Once the famed Italian sports car got above 100 mph as it fled from North Brunswick police on Route 1 north early yesterday, the officer broke off the chase.

But the V-10 Gallardo, which doesn't get great mileage, was apparently low on gas when the chase began, and the driver needed to make a pit stop to refuel.

That's when Edison police farther up the road caught the speeder.

Gianluca Siciliano, 38, of Torino, Italy, was arrested at an Edison service station on Amboy Avenue. He was charged with eluding police.

Police said Siciliano told them he was a representative of Lamborghini, the elite automaker based in Italy. A Lamborghini spokesman could not be reached yesterday.

Deputy Police Chief Don Conry said an officer using radar originally clocked Siciliano going 85 mph on Route 1 near Livingston Avenue in the northern end of the township.

"The officer pursued, accelerating to 100 mph, and saw the Lamborghini was rapidly pulling away from him," Conry said.

North Brunswick broadcast a description of the $175,000 sports car with Massachusetts plates. Edison police spotted it seven minutes later at 1:37 a.m., and Siciliano was arrested.

He was being held in the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick. Bail was set at $10,000.

The Gallardo has a top speed of 196 mph, according to the automaker's Web site, but its 520-horsepower engine gets only 17 mpg highway, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. North Brunswick police use Ford Crown Victorias as their cruisers, which have standard engines, Conry said.

The state Attorney General has guidelines for high-speed chases that call for police to end pursuits when the speed creates a substantial risk to the officer or others, depending on the road conditions, the location, and the likelihood of catching the fleeing driver at another time, the deputy chief said.

Yesterday's chase "lasted probably seconds," Conry said.

"It became obvious that he (the officer) wasn't going to catch the car. The risk to the officer and the driver wasn't worth it. It was only for a speeding ticket," Conry said, "and as it turned out, we were able to catch the driver."

vishnus11

damnit! I wish the Lambo guy had tanked up on gas B4 wasting the cops.

EDIT: Time for a hybrid Lambo?

savage

if that guy is from the new Lambo of Boston they are openning on Rt 114 i wouldnt be surprised...

from what i have heard they have already smashed up at least 1 lambo and have been arrested and caught speeding like crazy multiple times in the area... i have seen them on the road a lot lately and they are just drivin like idiots...

F-C

He went from a $100 fine to sitting in jail.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Those crazy Masshole Eyetalyans.

WILLDOGS

Nothing is faster, 0-60 , than a motorola.

mclarenf3387

How stupid can someone be. While I've seen a number of Gallardos around Jersey, its not gonna be THAT hard for the cops to find him. Especially when you have out of state plates.

SpeedyV6

Maybe it was another $175,000 Lambo with Massachusetts plates? I sure hope they got the right guy.

03JamesCLS

it was a silver convertable, he drove past me going the other (route 1, i was headed toward princeton) way on my way home from work!!!! hahaha. unbelieveable!

jcl_cls01

I read in the paper it was first Gallardo Spyder convertible in the US destined for a Manhattan Motorsports exhibit.

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/...er?ntop&coll=1

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

What a friggin dumbass.

ZtotallynakedZ

He was from Italy, give him a break...he just needed a little gas