Uber sting vehicle has ‘County of Nassau’ plate

A dark-colored Chevrolet sedan with an official “County of Nassau” license plate parked outside the county legislative building in Mineola recently raised eyebrows because it also had an Uber decal with a GPS locator on its windshield.

Was a county employee moonlighting as an Uber driver in a county car?

No, said county spokesman Michael Martino. The automobile is one of the county’s consumer affairs pool cars used by undercover investigations, he said. Police-type lights could be seen under the car’s front grill.

Martino said investigators use the car to stop Uber drivers and see if they have the proper licenses and permits.

When the targeted driver sees the Uber decal, he or she will think its just another Uber driver and not attempt to flee, Martino said.

But won’t the target also see the clearly marked “County of Nassau” license plate?

“They’re more likely to see the logo before they see the license plate,” Martino said. “The investigators do a really good job. They’re very thorough. They don’t want a car fleeing the scene.”

Martino would not say how many cars are used in the Uber stings, but he said the program “is very effective. It generated “700 tickets in January, 650 in February and 650 in March.”