Edited by: TJVNews.com
New York City deputy sheriffs impounded vehicles with fake paper license plates in an overnight raid in Queens on Friday. Officials have told the New York Post that the seizure comes as the city begins a crackdown on bogus temporary tags during the pandemic.
After the Friday overnight raid, New York City Sheriff Joseph Fucito told the Post that deputy sheriffs seized 53 vehicles that were parked on city streets and issued another 50 summonses for various parking and traffic violations. The Queens neighborhoods that the raids were conducted in included Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Woodhaven, and Woodside, according to the Post report.
The NYC deputy sheriffs conducted the operation with the assistance of the FBI, as well as state police from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the San Antonio Police Department, as was reported by the Post.
Deputies have charged 16 people for illegal plates, confiscated 185 vehicles and issued hundreds of tickets over the last two months, Fucito said.
In early August of this year, deputy sheriffs seized dozens of vehicles with bogus paper license plates on Bronx streets, also in an overnight raid, according to the NY Post.
(Paul Martinka)
Authorities swept the 45th Precinct in Co-Op City and the bordering 47th Precinct in the north Bronx between around midnight and 6 a.m. — netting 76 illicit vehicles, Sheriff Fucito said.
The Post reported that the officials used license-plate-reader technology to identify some of the offending vehicles, according to Fucito. Two of the rogue vehicles were tractor-trailers, and others including a bucket truck, he said.
In July, seizures were made in Brooklyn as well as part of “Operation: CON-temporary.”
The Gothamist reported that the deputies relied on a license plate reader to identify paper license plates that were counterfeit, considered legal but expired, or not legally assigned to the vehicle. Valid paper license plates are issued by a motor vehicles agency and are considered legitimate for 30 days.
Fucito told the Gothamist that the use of illegal paper plates makes it difficult for authorities to find the true owner of a vehicle, thus making it impossible to issue tickets for illegal parking, running red lights, or speeding. He added that once they identify the true owners of the vehicles, they will be hit with any summonses that have gone unanswered.
The Gothamist reported that Queens Councilmember Robert Holden requested deputies look into the presence of paper license plates in his district, saying fake or obscured plates “allow scofflaws to get away with reckless, dangerous driving, as well as to commit other crimes.”
