NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Thieves are stealing cars and taking license plates from vehicles parked on city streets. The original owner gets victimized again when tickets start arriving in the mail.
Richard King has been dealing with tickets for a ride that isn’t his for a year.
“Someone is riding around the Bronx, and I’m getting tickets,” he said.
The picture of a motorcycle running a light has his license plate, which he reported stolen.
He has been to the neighborhood a few times to look for the motorcycle and plate since some of the tickets have been near the same address.
The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles told PIX11 News the motorcycle and plate are marked stolen in the system.
Owners have to report stolen plates to the police and the DMV, which will show inactive and stolen registrations.
King had a printout of tickets going back to 2022. On Monday, he went again to the Department of Finance to dispute some tickets.
“I would like it to the be wiped off as soon as I reported it stolen. If I don’t pay, they can boot my truck,” he said.
Ryan Lavis is the finance director of public information.
“The Department of Finance will review the open summonses. We encourage anyone experiencing parking or camera violation issues to contact the Office of the Parking Summons Advocate via the DOF website for assistance disputing tickets,” Lavis said.
Stolen and fake plates are a problem. The NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams announced initiatives in the fall of 2023 to combat the crimes.
More police cruisers are equipped with license plate scanners.
The MTA has also brought up the processing of tickets and license plates as the agency prepares to implement congestion pricing based on plate readers.
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