Two men were arrested in East Hampton Village last week in a case that began with a possible traffic infraction and ended in felony charges against both the driver and the car’s owner.
On the morning of March 24, Michael Safronov of Wellington, Fla., 42, was driving a silver 2003 Volkswagen Passat on Further Lane when police noticed a “laminated temporary tag” on the back of the car. They pulled it over to investigate, found that the registration was fraudulent, and wound up charging Mr. Safronov with felony possession of a forged instrument, as well as numerous road-related infractions.
But for the “tag,” the stop might have been routine, or not have happened at all. According to the village police spokeswoman, Detective Sgt. Jennifer Dunn, these “paper tags,” or “ghost license plates,” have become “an ongoing issue within the entire country.”
Temporary license plates are issued by car dealerships to allow new owners to drive while waiting for their permanent metal plates to arrive. In New York State, they’re legal for a short time, usually a month, after a purchase, but not beyond, and not for vehicles that are registered out of state.
There is a robust black market on the internet for temporary tags. Village police “have been researching and learning what to look out for,” Sergeant Dunn said, and are “on the alert” for paper tags like the one spotted last week.
“People buy illegal temporary tags online, and they get away with it until police suspect something fishy about the plate, or until they’re stopped for an ordinary traffic infraction,” she said.
Along with ghost license plates, shady sellers frequently offer fake registrations. The officers who arrested Mr. Safronov reported that he had “paper registrations” from more than one state.
For law enforcement, ghost plates are not the only headache on local roads. One online outfit is selling “a revolutionary breakthrough in privacy . . . an ultra thin, weatherproof glass that switches from clear to opaque black with a touch of a button . . . powered through your vehicle’s 12v Battery or cigarette lighter . . . engineered for today’s drivers who value control over their vehicle’s license plate visibility.” Another seller offers, more simply but no less unlawfully, “license plate cover to avoid camera ticket.”
“It’s a strange situation,” said Sergeant Dunn.
Village police impounded the Passat, whose owner, Mykola Marunchak of Fairfield, Conn., 44, possibly unaware that Mr. Safronov had been arrested, came by Cedar Street headquarters later that day to get his car back. He ended up charged with the same class-D felony as the driver, criminal possession of a forged instrument, as well as lacking insurance on the car, a misdemeanor.
As for Mr. Safronov, he faces a number of additional charges, including operating a car without insurance, displaying an obstructed license plate, possessing plates and registrations from more than one state, and failing to produce legal New York registration.
East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky arraigned driver and owner on the morning of March 25. They are expected back in Justice Court on April 17.
