NY State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) says something is fishy on the Palisades Interstate and has asked the Bergen County Prosecutor to look into bogus ticketing practices. The call to Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal came after Hikind received complaints from New Yorkers of ticketing practices that were more than a little peculiar.

“Countless New Yorkers commute back and forth from New York to New Jersey, and more than once I have heard of bogus tickets being issued on the Palisades Parkway,” said Assemblyman Hikind. “The latest injustice occurred when my constituent was issued tickets that he should not have received and was forced to accept a guilty verdict to save time and money.”

The man in question was driving his brother’s large passenger vehicle when he was pulled over by a Palisades Interstate patrolman for driving a commercial vehicle on the Palisades. The Brooklyn resident presented his brother’s vehicle registration which made it clear that the vehicle was not a commercial vehicle at all. Nevertheless, a ticket was issued for the offense, along with three other tickets. These tickets were not issued to the driver: They were issued to his brother, who was not present.

When the vehicle’s owner took off from work to appear in court and enter a not guilty plea, he was told by the prosecutor that the patrolman who had written the tickets had not shown up and that he would have to appear a second time (and thus lose a second day’s pay). Consequently, he was compelled to plead guilty.

“I presume that the court saw how ludicrous this was because the four different ticket’s fines were reduced to a combined total of ‘only’ $50.00,” Hikind explained. “It seems clear that this was just a matter of extorting a cornered motorist into paying a fine for a crime he was not guilty of. In light of the stories that I have heard from other New Yorkers, I believe there is a pattern here. As such, I am asking for an investigation into the practices of the Palisades Interstate Police.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)