Stop!
That message was made abundantly clear to an area couple this week when they were arrested and arraigned for stealing red light cameras from intersections throughout the borough – including ones in Bensonhurst and Flatbush.
Officials said that the couple, who had not been named as this paper went to press, were arraigned on multiple counts of petit and grand larceny in connection to the series of thefts which stretch back weeks.
The couple reportedly acted like a work crew and drove around town in a cherry picker. When they came across a red light camera, they would put out some men working signs and bring the cherry picker bucket up high enough to access the pricey D2H digital cameras, which are placed on stoplights at problem intersections throughout the city.
Yet the two looked out of place, according to a source. Even with construction gear on, the woman involved in the scam was apparently quite stunning and hard to forget.
By late Tuesday, it was unclear just how many cameras were stolen, although they have been connected to the swiping of a red light camera on Bay Parkway near 75th Street.
Officials from the Department of Transportation told police that the camera was taken sometime between July 2 and – irony of ironies – Independence Day.
Police learned that there were no signs of forced entry on the box in which the camera was housed, leading them to believe that the thief had a key.
Sources said that the couple may have swiped another camera from Coney Island Avenue near Dorchester Road.
There are currently 100 red light cameras in the city. In April, Albany legislators voted to bring an additional 50 cameras to the city and extend the red light camera program until 2014. The program will also soon be extended to Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The high−tech cameras are triggered to take a photo of a vehicle’s license plate when someone blows through a red light. The person the car is registered to gets a $50 fine in the mail.
According to the New York State Senate, the red light camera program raised $73 million for the city between 1993 and 2008.
