Use of homemade licence plate results in charges for prohibited driver

Add one more to the tally of fake, homemade licence plates detected and taken off the streets by Kingston Police.

A Kingston man is now facing a list of charges for using such a licence plate, and the number of offences he was also found to have made upon being spoken to by police.

According to Kingston Police, at approximately 11:35 p.m. on Sunday, Jul. 11, 2021, officers on general patrol noticed a vehicle with suspicious-looking licence plates travelling westbound on Concession Street near Alfred Street in downtown Kingston. Police ran the licence plate number through their systems, which confirmed the plates to be invalid.

Officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop, as the use of invalid licence plates is a violation of the Highway Traffic Act, however, the driver continued travelling west on Concession Street before turning north on Grey Street and pulling into a private driveway.

“Upon closer inspection, the suspicious looking licence plate proved to be a handmade imitation which incorporated the use of a blue marker to denote the depicted numbers and letters,” Kingston Police said in a press release on Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2021.

The ensuing investigation found that the accused male driver was actually a prohibited driver after two Criminal Code convictions for driving while prohibited. When police asked the man for the legal documents associated with the vehicle he was driving, he indicated he did not have the papers on his person or in the vehicle. Police also found that the man was in breach of court-imposed release conditions. The man was arrested and transported to Kingston Police Headquarters.

A search of the accused man as he was being booked into custody located a clear baggie with a substance suspected to be crystal methamphetamine inside the man’s wallet.

As a result, Peter Carreiro, 29, of Kingston was charged with:

• Two counts of operation of a conveyance (vehicle) while prohibited
• Unlawful possession of a Schedule 1 substance
• Breach of probation

And while Kingston Police were not able to provide a photo of the fake, homemade licence plate in question, it probably looked something along the lines of how some of the other such items police have ticketed for this year have:

The current fine for not having a license plate is $85.00.