International Courant
A multiagency bust of so-called “ghost vehicles” netted eight arrests and practically 300 court docket summonses, New York authorities introduced Monday.”Ghost automobile” is an off-the-cuff time period used to explain automobiles with solid or altered license plates, designed to assist motorists evade toll and ticket charges.”Immediately the Ghostbusters have arrived,” Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul mentioned at a information convention on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. “We’re going after the ghost automobiles. The gig is up.”
New York authorities are cracking down on what they name “ghost vehicles,” or automobiles utilizing altered or solid license plates to keep away from paying tolls and tickets.
A multiagency effort to catch them on Monday resulted in 73 automobiles impounded, 282 summonses issued and eight arrests, Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and regulation enforcement officers introduced Tuesday.
Officers mentioned it was the primary effort by a brand new state and metropolis activity pressure that might be imposing license plate necessities.
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Monday’s operation concerned some 150 officers utilizing license plate reader expertise, visible inspections and different strategies to identify pretend plates alongside three river crossings coming into Manhattan: the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge linking three New York Metropolis boroughs, and the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel, which join with New Jersey.
“Immediately the Ghostbusters have arrived,” Hochul, a Democrat, mentioned at a information convention on the RFK Bridge. “We’re going after the ghost automobiles. The gig is up.”
New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, each Democrats, are seen side-by-side. (Getty Photos)
Toll dodging prices the area’s transit system an estimated $50 million yearly that might be invested into modernizing subways and public buses, mentioned Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
“That’s your cash they’re taking,” he mentioned. “That’s tax cash.”
Police have seen a transparent connection between the unlawful automobiles and violent crime, Adams mentioned. Autos bearing fraudulent or modified license plates — or no tags in any respect — are sometimes unregistered, uninsured or stolen, he mentioned. That makes it difficult to trace down automobiles and their homeowners once they’re concerned in hit-and-runs, robberies, shootings and different crimes.
Some criminals even carry a number of units of plates and swap them out to keep away from detection, in keeping with the mayor.
“These ‘ghost automobiles’ are a menace to our roadways,” Adams mentioned. “We don’t know who they’re. They disappear into the night time.”
To make certain, forging or altering license plates isn’t new, mentioned New York Police Division Commissioner Edward Caban.
However the metropolis noticed an inflow of them in the course of the pandemic, with individuals buying pretend plates on-line that seem as if they had been issued by out-of-state dealerships.
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Caban mentioned violators additionally use spray paint, tape and different supplies to obscure or alter license plate numbers and letters. Nonetheless others buy units that may be activated by a driver to cowl the plate simply as their automobile enters a toll zone, rendering the plate unreadable by fare system expertise.
