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Did Bankrupt Runaway Prius Driver Fake "Unintended Accelerat

Matt Hardigree, the author of this post, at jalopnik.com -- James Sikes, the San Diego runaway Toyota Prius driver, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and now has over $700,000 in debt. According to one anonymous tipster, we're also told he hasn't been making payments on his Prius. UPDATE!

We received an email earlier today from an anonymous tipster who claims James (Jim) Sikes, the driver of the runaway Toyota Prius, was in financial trouble and even behind by five months on his payments for the Prius. If that's true, it's potential motivation for wanting to find an out — any out — on paying for the vehicle.

We did some public records searches (thanks to the help of Gawker's John Cook) and found Sikes and his wife Patty found themselves, like many in the California real estate business, on the bursting side of the real estate bubble last year. The

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Submitted Mar 12, 2010 By: granitestater

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LetemEatCake Champion Author Oklahoma City Posts:2,800 Points:425,520 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Mar 13, 2010 10:01:40 PM Ignore LetemEatCake Report Abuse As with some fringe media of late, shoot the messenger. I would recommend that unless you have a job, have a perfect credit rating, and don't owe any money, don't try to file even an insurance claim. The Lord only knows what you may be accused of..... [Edited by: LetemEatCake at 3/13/2010 11:02:36 PM EST]
the1roadhog Champion Author Atlanta Posts:4,937 Points:1,045,880 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Mar 12, 2010 6:34:53 AM Ignore the1roadhog Report Abuse Devious if true.
greywolves Champion Author Las Vegas Posts:3,930 Points:1,495,745 Joined:Dec 2004	Message Posted: Mar 12, 2010 6:16:02 AM Ignore greywolves Report Abuse how creative! how did the 45 fatal occurrences fake their deaths?
NHLiveFree Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:3,777 Points:629,060 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Mar 12, 2010 12:30:52 AM Ignore NHLiveFree Report Abuse Of course this article is a Jalopnik blog so it must be true, NOT. Did you notice the poster owns a Toyota truck? Isn't that a conflict of interest? Why are Toyota owners so defensive about Toyota's serious safety problems that Toyota has been hiding for over 3 years? It's a shame that Toyota cannot just spend the money to solve the real technical problems rather than trying to just conduct foolish evasive maneuvers. [Edited by: NHLiveFree at 3/12/2010 1:31:20 AM EST]
FastAndy Champion Author Indianapolis Posts:4,203 Points:1,079,710 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Mar 12, 2010 12:19:20 AM Ignore FastAndy Report Abuse He needs the money, he must be faking it.
granitestater Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:3,891 Points:598,925 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Mar 11, 2010 11:11:57 PM Ignore granitestater Report Abuse Here you go. All the copycat fraudsters are out in force trying to scam some money from Toyota. It's like the time there was a bus accident in New York City. When the driver got off the bus to phone it in. A whole bunch of scammers jumped onto the bus and claimed to be injured. They know that because the bus had a security camera facing the passenger compartment taping the whole thing... [Edited by: granitestater at 3/12/2010 12:12:34 AM EST]