An elderly man in his nineties living on Staten Island in New York City unexpectedly received thousands of dollars in hefty fines and toll payment notices. It was later discovered by his daughter, who reported the incident, that someone had stolen her father’s license plate number.
The daughter of the elderly man pointed out that her father usually only drives to the church or nearby stores and never ventures far. However, the fines and tolls he received showed that the vehicle bearing his license plate number had been traveling to distant locations in New York City and even in the state of New Jersey, as captured by toll booth cameras, clearly showing a different vehicle than her father’s.
Following an investigation, the authorities revealed that it was not the license plate itself that was stolen, but someone had copied and pasted the letters and numbers from the elderly man’s license plate onto another vehicle using tape.
The daughter mentioned that the toll fees and fines amounted to thousands of dollars, with a stack of letters piling up. As a result, her father’s car was immobilized with a wheel lock and rendered unusable. She had to appear in court on her father’s behalf to unlock the situation.
Upon learning of the incident, Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon canceled the fines under the elderly man’s name on the 14th and initiated an investigation into the case.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, who has been actively opposing toll increases, expressed concerns that with the rise in toll fees, cases like these involving fraudulent use of innocent car owners’ license plate numbers to exploit the toll collection system may continue to increase. He warned, “If you see someone attempting to defraud the system by using innocent individuals as shields, do not be surprised.”