Our tale begins at the Garrod Farms Estate, a small winery well south of San Francisco.
For years this has been a place of leisure and pleasure. Horseback riding. Summer camps. Wine tasting. The sort of sunny, bucolic place that is so prevalent here in the Bay Area.
That is, until a few days ago.
Let’s read more detail about this mayhem:
A 42-year-old man was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly tried to start a fire at a Saratoga winery, crashed into two parked cars and then barricaded himself inside his Tesla, authorities said Monday.
Beri Vikram, of Menlo Park, reportedly tried to spark a fire on Saturday afternoon at Garrod Farms Estate Winery and Stables.
When confronted by staff, Vikram reportedly threw a wine bottle and fled in a Tesla. He then allegedly crashed into two parked cars, sending one over an embankment, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said.
After that, Vikram drove off the embankment himself and refused to surrender, authorities said.
Deputies used pepperball and spray to eventually force him to crawl out of the car.
He was then arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
The sheriff’s office said Vikram will be booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
I only learned of this story while walking Duke this morning and simultaneously reading our little hometown newspaper. Something didn’t add up here. A 42-year-old Indian male from Menlo Park sounds like someone with money. Based on those descriptors alone, I figure he’d work at a venture capital firm or maybe have his own business, not be arrested after going crazy at a winery.
What was odd to me, or maybe just plain lazy, was that none of the articles mentioned anything about this man Beri Vikram. Who was he? Did he have a job? Was he homeless?
Even while walking my dog, it took me about seven seconds to learn all about this chap. As I suspected, he wasn’t some crazy bum but was in fact a successful entrepreneur. In what field, you ask? Well…………
Yep. He founded an online mental health organization called BetterLYF.com. Mental. Health. Yep.
Just to make the story extra ironic, his own wife is a psychologist as well.
That’s all I know at this point, but on the surface, this story sounds like the foundation of a mini-series. One day, a successful entrepreneur is driving home from his business in his beautiful Tesla. The next day, he drives it, and his life, directly off an embankment.
