Exclusive | Not Guilty! Post reporter beats bogus, petty tickets in traffic court, giving hope to all innocent NYC drivers

These Brooklyn cops made the mistake of pulling over and handing out bogus traffic tickets to the wrong reporter.My driving drama began April 12, a bright Sunday afternoon, during a trip to the gym for a quick workout.I was rudely interrupted at Fourth Avenue and 86th Street in Bay Ridge by about a half-dozen young NYPD officers who said they pulled me over for a “random traffic-safety check.”After making me wait 20 minutes, a female officer shlepped out of a police car and slapped me with two summonses.

They were for having “illegal” dealership frames on the front and rear license plates of my 2019 Infiniti.I was shocked.I actually laughed, and told her she must be misinterpreting the law.

I said I might not be a lawyer, but as a New York Post reporter, I am very familiar with new laws prohibiting drivers from using ghost plates, clear plastic coverings and other methods to block plates from being read by red light, speeding and toll cameras.But not dealer frames, which do not obstruct the plates, and are probably on about half of all NYC vehicles.On the block where I was pulled over, there were a dozen cars with dealer frames, I pointed out.Then I asked her — and a crew of other fresh-faced cops who began surrounding me like ticket-quota vultures — what made my situation any different.The officers got hissy, said they weren’t going to debate, and one male cop threatened to give me another ticket if I didn’t just drive away.So I did – straight to the 68th Precinct stationhouse a mile away.I showed the ranking officer on duty both summonses – which were so sloppily scrawled that I could not make out the actual charges or potential fines.He walked outside to check my license plates and admitted the tickets should never have been written.He assured me the officers would be “retrained” because the law allows plate covers — provided, like mine, they don’t block numbers and letters on the plate.He apologized but said he didn’t have the ...