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THEASSOCIATEDPRESS This frame grab from a video shows a yellow Ferrari speeding through a stop sign, Thursday in Beverly Hills. A Middle Eastern sheikh who allegedly owns the Ferrari apparently has raced out of town, police said Thursday. TheAssociatedPress BEVERLYHILLS AFerrari caught on video zooming through a Beverly Hills neighborhood last week- end is owned by a Mid- dle Eastern sheikh who has since left the country and taken his million-dol- lar sports car with him, au- thorities say. Police held a news con- ference Thursday to dis- cuss the incident and iden- tified the owner as Khalid binHamadAlThani,ofQa- tar. He's a lover of fast cars who owned a champion drag-racing team and is a member of the ruling fam- ily of the oil-rich country. Al Thani's bright yel- low, 12-cylinder LaFerrari, which sells for around $1.4 million new, was re- corded along with a white Porsche speeding down narrow streets and racing through stop signs Satur- day evening. They eventu- ally pulled into a driveway, the Ferrari's engine smok- ing. Officers answering re- ports of reckless driving found both cars parked in the driveway. A man be- lieved to be Al Thani told the officers that the cars belonged to him, and he denied speeding or driv- ing recklessly, police said. Themanclaimedtohave diplomatic immunity, but Beverly Hills Police Chief Dominick Rivetti said au- thorities determined that was not the case. "What I do know is you can't claim diplomatic im- munity if you don't have it, and you can't use that as an excuse to jeopardize the public or commit crimes," Rivetti said. No charges were brought because investiga- tors don't know who was driving the cars, Lt. Lin- coln Hoshino said. The drivers weren't visi- ble on the videos or photo- graphs, and investigators were unable to find anyone who was willing to identify them, Hoshino said. Police will continue in- vestigating, and if the drivers are identified, they could be charged with reck- less driving, Rivetti said. The city has lodged a complaint over the inci- dent to the Qatari consul- ate via the U.S. State De- partment, the chief said. Authorities in Qatar and at the Qatari Embassy in Washington could not be immediately reached for comment. Police:Sheikh le US w it h hi s speedy Ferrari CAUGHT ON VIDEO The Associated Press HAYWARD The man charged in a California kidnapping that police ini- tially dismissed as a hoax pleaded no contest Friday to attempted robbery and assault charges in a sepa- rate home invasion. Matthew Muller — a dis- barred Harvard University- trainedattorney—collapsed and had to be revived in Al- ameda County court before entering the pleas, the Oak- land Tribune reported. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November and faces up to 11 years in prison, according to prosecutors. Authorities say Muller broke into a San Francisco Bay Area home in June and tried to tie up two res- idents, but the husband fought back. A cellphone at the scene led investigators to Muller and evidence they are now using to tie him to the March kidnapping of Denise Huskins from her Vallejo home. Muller's attorney, Thomas Johnson, has said his client will plead not guilty to the federal kid- napping charge. He was expected to be taken into custody by federal author- ities sometime Friday, said Teresa Drenick, a spokes- woman for the Alameda County district attorney's office. Huskins' boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, reported kidnappers broke into the couple's home March 23, abducted Huskins and de- manded money. Huskins, 29, turned up safe two days later in her hometown of Hunting- ton Beach, where she says she was dropped off. She showed up hours before the ransom was due. After Huskins reap- peared, Vallejo police said at a news conference the kidnapping was a hoax. They have since apolo- gized. Huskins filed a claim against the city Thursday seeking unspecified mone- tary damages. BAY AREA Man charged in kidnapping pleads in separate case By Brian Melley The Associated Press LOSANGELES Shewouldbe a young woman now, but in- stead Lauren Sarene Key is forever the 4-year-old child who never returned from a visit to the coast with her father. Nearly 15 years after the girl plunged to her death from a 120-foot seaside cliff, her father was sentenced Friday to life in prison with- out parole for her murder. Jurors found Cameron Brown, 53, a former airline baggage handler, guilty of hurling her from Inspira- tion Point in Rancho Palos Verdes in November 2000 amid an ugly custody bat- tle with her mother. Sarah Key-Marer told the court that the bitter dispute had begun to steal the joy from her daughter. "We watched her spar- kle fade in the last months of her life," Key-Marer said as Brown stared stoically straight ahead. "Her smiles diminished more quickly every time she witnessed the conflict. ... The funny, happy girl we all knew was fading." Brown's first-degree mur- der conviction in May came about a dozen years after he was arrested and followed two previous trials when ju- rors decided the death was a crime, but they couldn't agree if it was murder or manslaughter. Brown told police the girl tripped and fell as she ran toward the cliff. Defense lawyer Aron Laub said Brown was a bad father but not a mur- derer. Laub disputed testi- mony by a prosecution ex- pert that showed a girl her age wouldn't have been able to run fast enough to land where she did in the rocky ocean below. He asked ju- rors to convict Brown of manslaughter. Brown and Key-Marer had a short-lived romance that soured when she got pregnant. Brown wanted Key- Marer to get an abortion, and he even tried to get her deported to her British homeland, Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum said. Hatred toward his ex- girlfriend was the key mo- tive, though there was evi- dence that Brown was also trying to get out of costly child support payments, Hum said. Hum said a witness came forward at the third trial who testified that Brown said it would be "nice to get rid of Lauren" to avoid $1,000-a-month payments. The girl was reluctant to leave school to join her father for his scheduled visit the day of her death, a teacher testified. Her step-brother, Josh Marer, said he has a vivid recollection of playing Lau- ren's favorite board game the night before her death. She became upset, kicked the pieces and ran into her room crying. He asked what was wrong. "She told me, 'I think I'm going to die tomorrow,'" he said. He was 10 at the time and said the death derailed his life. He became addicted to drugs and tried to take his life several times before fi- nally finding a path to re- covery. "Lauren had become my guardian angel," he said. "I know she watches and pro- tects me and for that I'm truly grateful." Outside court, Brown's wife, Patricia, said her hus- band loved Lauren, that the death was an accident, and that he missed the girl more than anyone. As Patricia Brown spoke with reporters, Key-Marer approached and asked if she had anything to say to her. "You know as well as any- body that it wasn't a homi- cide," Brown said. The prosecutor then ap- proached and blurted, "You don't have to listen to this crap." AsBrownandherbrother continued to speak, Hum raised his voice and told him, "Step away, sir. ... It's time for you to go." COURTS Dad convicted of hurling daughter off cliff gets life prison sentence AL SEIB — LOS ANGELES TIMES FILE Cameron Brown, father of Lauren Sarene Key, le , stands with his defense attorney Aron Laub, as jurors enter the courtroom in Los Angeles. "We watched her sparkle fade in the last months of her life. "Her smiles diminished more quickly every time she witnessed the conflict. ... The funny, happy girl we all knew was fading." — Sarah Key-Marer, speaking of how a bitter custody dispute affected their daughter FIREARMS TRAINING Call for Class details Sept. 26 th & 27 th C.C.W. 1 ST time & renewal class Walt Mansell 527-1154 Early morning & evenings FULL PAGES Published weekly on Thursdays: October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Fresh, professionally-produced feature content for readers each week including the story of "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" 3 inch (2 column) by 2 inch Sponsor Box Month-long Exposure in Print and Online editions $258 Join us in our mission to support "Think Pink" and help to keep the vital importance of early detection top of mind in Tehama County, all month long! 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