Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
How does the Lebanese son of a Mormon mom get indicted for car theft, make a fortune selling car alarms, and get elected to Congress? Just ask California representative Darrell Issa.
OK, OK. Let’s be clear about this: Despite the indictment, Issa has never actually been convicted of car theft. In fact, the prosecutor dropped all charges against him. But as we’ll see, he certainly knew enough about the art and science of car thievery to establish a lucrative car alarm business.
Issa’s origin story was anything but promising. In 1970, he dropped out of high school and joined the army. A member of Issa’s army unit, First Sergeant (Ret.) Jay Bergey, told a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle that Issa stole his yellow Dodge and took it to Cleveland in 1971. “I confronted Issa,” he said. “I got in his face and threatened to kill him, and magically my car reappeared the next day, abandoned on the turnpike.” Issa, who described Bergey as an alcoholic, categorically denies ever stealing his car. No charges were ever filed.