Police investigating Elon Musk’s claim that his two-year-old son, X Æ A-12, was followed by a “crazy stalker” in Los Angeles because of public flight information have cast doubt on the billionaire’s version of what happened.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the South Pasadena police said they were investigating a report of “an assault with a deadly weapon involving a vehicle” related to the incident on Dec. 13. A member of Musk’s security team, referred to as a “suspect” in the release, was involved in the incident, according to the cops. The security guard claimed a 29-year-old Connecticut man followed him into a gas station. Then the guard hit the man’s car, according to the police statement. Musk shared a video of the man in a car and the car’s licence plate on Dec. 14, asking, “Anyone recognise this person or car?”
The cops have not mentioned that a stalker was involved at all and suggested that what occurred could have been a coincidence. The man who was struck identified himself as Brandon Collado after the incident.
According to the South Pasadena police, Collado claims he had a verbal confrontation with another driver on Dec. 13 after he pulled into a gas station parking lot to use his phone. Collado told police that the member of Musk’s security team pulled up in front of him and blocked his path, accusing Collado of following him on the freeway.
Collado said the security guard drove his car into Collado’s as the guard left the station. Collado sustained no physical injuries, police said. Furthermore, while Musk stated that his son, X, was in the car, police said they could not confirm this. Only Collado has filed a police report so far.
The police update on the incident and investigation contradicts Musk’s version of what happened on Dec. 13. In a tweet on Dec. 14, the Twitter CEO said that Collado had followed the car carrying X thinking that Musk was in it. Musk then claimed that Collado blocked the car from moving and climbed on the hood.
“At no time during the incident did the victim identify the suspect or indicate the altercation was anything more than coincidental,” South Pasadena police said in a statement.
Yet, the police’s comment that the incident could have just been a coincidence stands in stark contrast to a Sunday report from the Washington Post. Speaking to the Post, Collado said that he had an interest in Musk and in Grimes, the mother of two of Musk’s children, including X. Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, lives in a house near the gas station.
Collado told the Post that he was a driver for Uber Eats and was in the area to make deliveries and to visit a friend. He also said that he believed Boucher was sending him secret messages via her Instagram posts, that Musk was monitoring his location in real-time, and that Musk could block him from receiving work through Uber Eats.
“I am the guy in this video,” Collado tweeted at Musk, as reported by the Post. “You have connections to me and have stalked me and my family for over a year.” Gizmodo was unable to find the tweet from Collado referenced by the Post.
Last night, car carrying lil X in LA was followed by crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked car from moving & climbed onto hood.
Legal action is being taken against Sweeney & organizations who supported harm to my family.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2022
Musk stated that the incident involving his son had been facilitated by Jack Sweeney, the university student who runs the @ElonJet account on social media that tracks flights from his private jet using public information. However, the Post reported that the incident with Collado had taken place at a gas station 42 km away from the Los Angeles airport and 23 hours after @ElonJet posted the location of Musk’s plane.
After the alleged incident involving his son, Musk banned Sweeney from Twitter and announced a policy change banning “real-time doxxing,” sharing of anyone’s location, because it was a risk to physical safety. Musk then went on a blocking spree and suspended journalists on Twitter for sharing “basically assassination coordinates” for him and his family.
In Musk parlance, this apparently means tweeting about @ElonJet. The Twitter CEO has said that he will be taking legal action against Sweeney, @ElonJet’s operator, who still tracks his private plane on other social media platforms.