Street racing cars

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Bryan Casella stands inside the empty garage of his Rowland Heights home, where he kept his Nissan GTR before it was confiscated by police in Orange as part of a criminal investigation into an accident with a bicyclist. MATT MASIN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A carbon fiber spoiler lies on Bryan Casella's bed. He keeps it there to avoid scratches and dings while waiting to put it onto his car. For 180 days, the Orange Police Department has held Casella's Nissan GTR. MATT MASIN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A carbon fiber spoiler lies on Bryan Casella's bed. He keeps it there to avoid scratches and dings while waiting to put it onto his car. For 180 days, the Orange Police Department has held Casella's Nissan GTR. MATT MASIN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Bryan Casella' s $117, 000 lime green Nissan GTR before it was impounded indefinitely by the Orange Police Department in mid-February. Casella said police and prosecutors still won't say why they've kept the cars, some for as long as four months, other than to point out that they are part of an active investigation. , COURTESY OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Bryan Casella' s $117, 000 lime green Nissan GTR before it was impounded indefinitely by the Orange Police Department in mid-February. Casella said police and prosecutors still won't say why they've kept the cars, some for as long as four months, other than to point out that they are part of an active investigation. , COURTESY OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Bryan Casella' s $117, 000 lime green Nissan GTR before it was impounded indefinitely by the Orange Police Department in mid-February. Casella said police and prosecutors still won't say why they've kept the cars, some for as long as four months, other than to point out that they are part of an active investigation. , COURTESY OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

Bryan Casella stands inside the empty garage of his Rowland Heights home, where he kept his Nissan GTR before it was confiscated by police in Orange as part of a criminal investigation into an accident with a bicyclist. MATT MASIN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“Let’s go cruise.”

The invitation was too tempting for high-end car buff Bryan Casella to pass up.

That the late December drive would lead to his dream car being impounded indefinitely, or that he and other car collectors would be investigated as possible street racers, or that a GoPro camera might provide evidence in a criminal investigation, wasn’t yet known.

So on the morning after Christmas, Casella, 29, accepted the invitation from a guy he says he barely knew, jumped into his $117, 000 lime green Nissan GTR and headed to the Market Place in Tustin. The 15 other cruisers came driving a Lamborghini, a couple of Corvettes, a handful of BMWs and other high-performance vehicles.

Their plan was to take a circular path and eventually wind up at Duke’s restaurant in Huntington Beach – to enjoy some scenery, to be seen.

“Cruise, ” Casella said, wasn’t intended to be about speed. “It’s more to just use the car, show off.”

The first glitch in the cruise came about 10 minutes into the drive, in Orange, when a bicyclist and a gray Mustang GT 5.0 collided. Initially, it didn’t seem serious, more a bump than an accident. Casella said the cyclist declined medical care at the scene, a fact confirmed by at least one witness. And police at the scene said the bicyclist was at fault. Soon, the cruise was back on track.

The second glitch didn’t even seem like a glitch at the time. The driver of the white Lamborghini got a speeding ticket in Huntington Beach.

Still, Casella, a real estate broker in Rowland Heights, said it was generally a good time.

A few weeks later, his view on that started to change.