Arenas: ‘Battling time’ to leave burning truck

Jun 25, 2025, 04:02 PM ET LOS ANGELES– Southern California basketball hire Alijah Arenas has offered the very first details of the auto accident that left him in a caused coma in April.Initially disoriented after crashing his Tesla Cybertruck into a tree, Arenas said he felt panic as smoke filled the front cabin and the doors would not open.”I was fighting time,

“Arenas said throughout a press conference Tuesday.Arenas, whose father Gilbert played

in the NBA, was involved in the single-car crash last April when he stated the Cybertruck’s keypad and steering wheel wouldn’t respond. Arenas said he awoke to find the guest side of the dashboard engulfed in flames and tried to use his digital secret to escape, only to discover the Tesla app had actually locked him out.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated”I tried to unlock and the door wasn’t opening,” he said.Arenas transferred to the back seat and tried to break

out the window, but wasn’t able to.

He splashed himself with a water bottle to cool his body down and spent nearly 10 minutes in the burning automobile before lastly busting out the chauffeur’s side window and falling into a few inches of water from a damaged fire hydrant as spectators assisted pull him to safety.Arenas spent six days in the hospital following the accident but did not suffer major injuries.