Celebrity chef Guy Fieri testified today in the trial of a Marin County teen who is accused of stealing the chef’s bright-yellow Lamborghini in 2011 and then shooting at a romantic rival in Mill Valley a year later.
Fieri’s testimony this 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.
Wade, 19, is charged with the theft of the car and the attempted murder of a teenage girl who had spurned him romantically and her then-boyfriend.
Prosecutors allege that Wade stole the car in a “Mission Impossible”-style heist to impress the girl, Eva Dedier, who is now 19.
On April 13, 2012, Wade allegedly drove a motorcycle up alongside Dedier and then-boyfriend Landon Wahlstrom as they sat in Wahlstrom’s truck, and opened fire at them, according to prosecutors.
Fieri told reporters outside of court that he is relieved the ordeal is nearly over.
“It’s been a really crazy story,” he said.
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.
“I thought it was a bad joke,” he said.
He said the insurance company took ownership of the car after it was found in Wade’s possession at a storage unit.
Deputy District Attorney Yvette Martinez was set to begin her closing argument this afternoon in the trial, which began earlier this month.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
