VENTURA : Mental Test Ordered for Kidnap Suspect
A judge ordered a psychological evaluation for a Ventura man accused of kidnaping an auto salesman and leading police on a chase to Universal City--and the defendant’s attorney said his client will eagerly cooperate.
Deputy Public Defender Stephen P. Lipson said defendant Daryl Lynn Simpson believes he is Jesus and wants to tell the court-appointed psychologist his religious message.
Simpson, an unemployed 32-year-old oil-field worker, will probably change his not guilty plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, Lipson said. But Lipson said that would depend on the opinion of the doctor.
Ventura County acting Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Clark ordered the psychological examination Tuesday.
Police say Simpson was test-driving a black, $27,000 Camaro Z-28 from Paradise Chevrolet on Victoria Avenue earlier this month when he told a salesman that he was God and on his way to radio station KLOS in Los Angeles.
He drove south on the Ventura Freeway to the San Fernando Valley, police said. The salesman escaped when Simpson exited the freeway to make a phone call.
Los Angeles police spotted the car in Van Nuys, triggering a chase where speeds reached 90 m.p.h. Simpson was finally arrested after the car he was driving hit a curb and got a flat tire.
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