Man in back of Tesla arrested on suspicion of reckless driving … again

SAN JOSE — A 25-year-old man cited last month for reckless driving after he was seen in the backseat of his Tesla — with no person controlling the car from its front seat — was arrested a second time for a similar incident, authorities said.

In a statement Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol said officers responded shortly before 6:35 p.m. Monday when dispatchers received calls about a Tesla Model 3 with no one in the driver’s seat heading east on the Bay Bridge.

At the bridge toll plaza, a CHP officer saw the Tesla, with its sole occupant in the backseat. Soon after the officer initiated a traffic stop, the person reportedly moved to the driver’s seat. The car stopped on eastbound Interstate 80 west of Powell Street, the CHP said.

Officers arrested the car’s occupant, identified as Param Sharma, and booked him into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of reckless driving and disobeying a peace officer. The car was towed from the scene as evidence, the CHP said.

According to a county records check, Sharma was listed in custody Tuesday night but was no longer in custody Wednesday.

The CHP said Sharma was cited April 27 for a similar incident, after officers received third-hand information of a man in the backseat of the dark four-door sedan in West Oakland.

In a social media post Saturday, before the latest arrest, the CHP said it “has been made aware of an incident involving a man riding in the back seat of a Tesla traveling on Bay Area roadways with no other person being seated in the driver’s seat. The CHP received a report of the incident as third-hand information, and it is under investigation,” the post says. It does not say when the information was received or whether the alleged incident was on the freeway or city streets.