Officer spots fashionable, but fake, HOV passenger
A Mount Sinai woman tried to pass off a life-size mannequin as her passenger to use the HOV lane, police said. (Feb. 2, 2010) Credit: Suffolk County Sheriff's Department
Something about a passenger in a car cruising down the HOV lane of the Long Island Expressway in Islandia Tuesday morning seemed odd to Deputy Suffolk County Sheriff Robert Howard.
The passenger was wearing a visor and sunglasses - but it was cloudy.
Howard pulled over the driver, Kathleen A. Frascinella, 61, of Mount Sinai, to find that the passenger was a mannequin, fully attired in a long, dark wig, color-coordinated blouse and blazer, and a scarf.
The incident happened about 7:20 a.m. as Frascinella drove west between Exits 58 and 57, according to Howard's report.
Frascinella was ticketed for operating a vehicle in the HOV lane without a passenger - a live one, anyway - which carries a $135 fine and two points.
"I know people do try to get away with this," Chief of Staff Mike Sharkey said. Sharkey said such elaborate ruses happen about two or three times a year.
The sheriff's office said in a release the violation is taken seriously, "because unchecked abuses of this type can lead to serious traffic congestion."
"At first glance, this may seem humorous, but it is not a joking matter when you drive off with a ticket," Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco said in a statement.
Sharkey praised the work of Howard. "To be driving 55 mph and be able to pick up through glass that there was something wrong about the passenger, that's good work," he said.
