Police: Malverne body shop owner had fake plates

A Malverne collision repair shop owner was charged with having a forged license plate Tuesday after she parked her car - with the fake plate - in the state Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot in East Garden City, police said.

Lorraine Christie-Pilitz, 52, of Lexington Avenue, Malverne, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument after she was arrested outside the DMV office on Axinn Avenue at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nassau County police said. She was to be arraigned Wednesday in First District Court, Hempstead.

Police said Christie-Pilitz, the owner of Autotech Collision in Rockville Centre, parked her 2003 Honda Element in the DMV lot, where a DMV inspector "recognized its obviously forged license plate."