In the courtroom of Judge Judy, some stories are so unbelievable that the truth is often found in the wreckage. Jessica Foster and Lamont Fountain had been friends since elementary school—a lifetime of shared memories that came to a screeching halt on December 26th, over a motorcycle that didn’t even make it past the front yard.

The “Batteries Included” Disaster

The setup seemed simple enough. Jessica’s motorcycle had been sitting in her grandparents’ backyard all summer. It was a nice day, and she needed a new battery installed to get it running. She called on Lamont, her handy childhood friend, to help.

However, the day was already off to a rocky start for Jessica. Just 24 hours earlier, she had been in a car accident. While Lamont was working on the bike, Jessica’s son called out that her phone was ringing in her car. She stepped away to take the call—ironically from her insurance company regarding the previous day’s crash—when she looked in her rearview mirror and saw a sight that made her heart drop.

Lamont wasn’t just parking the bike; he was getting up off the asphalt.

The Shortest Test Drive in History

According to Jessica, Lamont had taken the motorcycle for an unauthorized “joyride.” But calling it a joyride might be an overstatement, considering the distance involved.

“We’re talking about 100 feet or less—50 feet—and he crashed it in 50 feet?” the Judge asked, incredulous. “You couldn’t drive it 50 feet without crashing it?”

Lamont’s defense was that he was merely being a good friend. He claimed the bike had been “acting up” and he wanted to make sure it was safe. He argued that the gears got stuck, causing him to plow into the back of a parked car. He further claimed that had he known the bike was uninsured and lacked proper tags, he never would have taken it onto the street.

Crashed and Trashed

Jessica didn’t care about the tags or the insurance; she cared about her bike, which was now completely totaled. She was suing for $3,000, the value of the motorcycle that her “lifetime friend” had managed to destroy in the time it took her to answer a phone call.

The tension in the air was thick, with Judge Judy sensing there was more to their “friendship” than they were letting on. “I can just smell it in the air,” she remarked, questioning if there had been a deeper relationship between the two.

The Bottom Line

Lamont’s “test drive” turned out to be a very expensive mistake. Whether he was trying to be helpful or just looking for a thrill, the result was the same: a totaled bike and a broken friendship. In the eyes of the law, if you take someone else’s vehicle and wreck it—especially within 50 feet of the starting point—you’re on the hook for the bill.

The Lesson: If a friend asks you to help install a battery, stick to the battery. Otherwise, you might find yourself in front of a judge, explaining how you failed to navigate a distance shorter than a bowling alley.