NYPD seizes hundreds of vehicles in ‘ghost car’ crackdown
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The NYPD has seized more than 800 vehicles in the three months since it teamed with other law enforcement agencies to crack down on the proliferation of “ghost cars” and reckless drivers in the city, new stats show.
Authorities beginning in March conducted 14 operations and seized 806 vehicles, made 184 arrests, issued 6,082 summonses and calculated that more than $6.5 million in unpaid tolls, fines and penalties are linked to the vehicles.
Ghost cars, which emerged as a major problem on city streets during the pandemic, typically have fake or fraudulent license plates, giving criminals a leg up as they flee police because the plates allow drivers to hide their true identities.
The crackdown, which also focuses on unlicensed drivers, typically involves having license plate readers at bridge crossings, with authorities — including Port Authority and MTA cops, as well as those with the Sheriff’s office — ready to move in and make an arrest.
At an operation last week at the Whitestone Bridge, a Mercedes-Benz driver, Donte Johnson, 22, tried to get away from police after a license plate reader flagged the vehicle for a “scofflaw judgment” — the owner owing $5,798.97 — a police source said.
Johnson crashed into a tow truck on the Bronx side of the bridge and was arrested for reckless endangerment, reckless driving and obstructing governmental administration. His three passengers were not charged, but a source said Johnson and two of the passengers have credit card fraud arrests.
The Mercedes belongs to a man in Hackensack, N.J., and was not stolen, the source said.
License plate coverings and fake or fraudulent plates led to more than $46 million in lost toll revenue for the MTA in 2022, according to a fare evasion report published by the agency last year.
“The small fraction of motorists who would attempt to evade tolls are getting the message that there is no tolerance for it – we will spot them, stop them, and deliver consequences,” MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Catherine Sheridan said in a statement.
