Mitnick Hurt in Car Crash
   -------------------------
   by Douglas Thomas 
   4:30 p.m.  26.Aug.99.PDT

   LOS ANGELES -- Convicted hacker Kevin Mitnick sustained minor head and
   neck  injuries  Wednesday morning in a multi-car accident while he was
   being   transferred   to   a   facility  that  satisfied  his  dietary
   requirements.

   Mitnick,  being  transferred  in  anticipation of a court ruling which
   would  order Mitnick moved to a facility that served kosher meals, was
   thrown against a metal divider.

   Mitnick  and  an unknown number of other inmates -- shackled in chains
   but  with no safety restraining devices -- were being transported from
   the  San  Bernardino  Jail  to  the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention
   Center. The crash occurred on Highway 60 between 8:30 and 9 a.m.

   "I  really slammed my head when I hit the metal divider," Mitnick said
   in a telephone interview on Thursday.

   X-rays  proved  negative,  although  Mitnick  continues to complain of
   headaches, nausea, and shoulder and neck pain.

   Insult  soon  added  to  his  injuries:  After  spending several hours
   waiting to be admitted to the MDC, Mitnick was transferred back to the
   San Bernardino facility, which does not serve kosher food.

   Mitnick wound up spending most of Wednesday night waiting on the floor
   of  a  holding  cell  to be readmitted. He was finally booked into the
   facility at 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

   Mitnick said he has yet to be seen by a San Bernardino facility nurse,
   and  has  had no access to any painkiller, including Tylenol. "I don't
   think  they  have  any idea what happened," Mitnick said, referring to
   the lack of medical attention.

   Although  unwilling to comment on legal action regarding the accident,
   Mitnick's attorneys did say that they immediately sent a letter to the
   U.S.  Marshals  Service  requesting that Mitnick be moved to a federal
   facility.  They  say  a  federal  facility could provide him access to
   kosher  food  and  to  medical  treatments  in  keeping  with  federal
   guidelines.

   U.S. Marshals were unavailable for comment.

   "This  has  definitely been one of the worst days in custody," Mitnick
   said.