From KCRW, I'm Bob Carlson, and this is unfictional.

Maricio lived in Los Angeles undocumented for 20 years,

and it wasn't always easy.

At that time, I didn't know any English so when I heard this officer

is like really mad and screaming like really loud of course put your hands up you

learn that right away. But somehow he was able to combine his love of cars and his dream of being on television.

Today's your lucky day.

About to pimp your ride.

It's a brand new season of unfictional.

True stories, personal documentaries and radio movies, and this season,

stories of fantasy, impossible goals, underground worlds, and memories of old friends that are more real than the truth.

But here's the story of Mauricio Hernandez. He was living his dream in

LA of the 1990s, a world of custom cars and TV fame. But then betrayal and

heartbreak and he nearly died in the desert.

It's a story from reporter Levi Bridges in two parts this week and next and there are

a handful of F words in this episode, so consider that your fair warning.

From KCRW, it's Unfictional and Morricio Across the Border, Part 1.

You do not forget a guy like Mauricio Hernandez.

He's got a long pointy beard, always wearing these dark sunglasses

and long dreadlocks that hang practically down to his waist.

The down to his waist. The first time I met Maurizio, he was standing in a parking lot just outside Mexico City, speaking at some kind of promotional event.

I thought I'd seen him somewhere before,

...