Spoiled Kid Sets Fire to Ferrari to Get a New Ferrari

My friend Ryan is quite a character. When we were in school, he had three different backpacks for his classes. His reasoning was that he never felt like switching out his books all the time, so he just bought two more backpacks. Why actually do a simple task when you can just go out and buy things to make it easier?

Let’s just hope he never has the reasoning of this guy: The 20-year-old son of a Swiss millionaire set his Ferrari 458 Italia on fire. Deliberately. His reasoning? He simply wanted a newer, better Ferrari. Why trade in or sell your car when you can just burn it and pretend like it was never there? Is this what rich people do in their spare time? Have cute little bonfires with their money?

Anyway, the New York Daily News says that the kid was afraid to confront his father about his dissatisfaction with the car. I guess he was also afraid to tell him, “Dad, all of the other 14 cars you’ve given me, including the Lamborghini, don’t suit my needs.” So, he chose the next best option: arson.

Man With a Scam

Hold up — apparently, the arson idea wasn’t hatched in the kid’s brain. A few days before the act, he went to a car dealership to get the Ferrari appraised. His car was worth only about 80 percent of the cost of the new Ferrari. The salesman did his best to help out the kid, and suggested he take advantage of the dealership’s “scam the insurance company” plan. All he had to do was set fire to his car!

Of course, the kid wasn’t going to do the dirty work himself. He hired two people at a rate of $15,000 each. Then, he went to a massage parlor, possibly to relax and let go of the burden that was the Ferrari.

Unfortunately, his clever plan was foiled when security cameras at the scene captured the whole thing on film. The kid received a fine of $32,000. It’s hard to imagine how he’ll pay that off with — oh, wait. The whole rich thing. Yeah. He was let out with a paid bail of 200,000 euros ($223,650).

He also got 22 months probation. It’s not clear yet what exactly happened to his henchmen, but chances are they won’t get off so easy.

Listen, arson is pretty creative and all, but the kid could have at least considered other options that wouldn’t have landed him in the slammer so quickly. That’s why I’ve provided a handy list here:

• Drive it off a remote cliff
• Enter it in a demolition derby
• Donate it to the local monster truck rally
• Drop it off at the junkyard
• Give it to someone who wants it. Like, me.

Or, you know, sell it. With the price he paid his henchmen, it would have only been an 18,000 difference to get the new car. Something tells me he could have pulled that off.

So, there’s a lesson to be learned here. Arson is a perfect way to make things you don’t want just … disappear! However, you should always look around for security cameras first … and maybe consider some other, less attention-grabbing alternatives.