Joe Yates
Star Trek fans may recall the famous letters and numbers brandished on the top of the spaceship 'USS Enterprise'.
It reads 'NCC-1701' - a more than familiar set of digits for Breda Koorey of New York, whose license plate was an exact match. And, as a result, has been inundated with thousands of dollars worth of parking fines from 'Trekkies' installing replica plates on their own cars.
The Long Island grandma was issued the numberplate from the state.
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A simple search on Google shows replica license plates with holes in them being sold on Amazon, eBay, Etsy and replica dedicated websites for as little as under $20 - and they seem to be cost-effective.
That is if you get a parking ticket, speeding ticket or anything else - as they have been getting pilled to the Huntington pensioner's home.
I will add that it is completely illegal to deliberately try and con authorities by sticking fake plates on your motor, but some people have been doing exactly that - although in some cases it's unclear whether they knew they were breaking the law.
In 2020, Koorey took the difficult decision to sell her car, surrender her license plates and give up driving altogether as her eyesight began to get considerably worse.
The law differs from state to state, but for most, vehicles drivers need to display either one or two license plates on their motor - either just at the rear of the car or at the front and back.
However, some people buying the novelty plates have been putting them at the back of their vehicles and racking up hundreds of speeding tickets, among other fines.
Speaking about it per Live 5 News, Koorey said: “I want to cry because it’s a simple matter that they could have fixed."
Despite giving up driving she was still receiving fines in her mailbox, so she sought legal help in the form of Kenneth Mollins after she received threatening letters from Ohio and across the border in Canada too. People were using fake plates bearing Koorey's license plate to commit crimes.
Speaking to the outlet, Mollins said: "This is a lady who was beaten up by a big bad corporation for four years."
When Koorey initially lodged the complaint, the Department of Motor Vehicles told her that she was no longer connected to the 'Star Trek' license plate, but Mollins discovered that Koorey's name and address were never removed from the system.
Now, state parking and violation bosses have said they have dismissed 194 tickets resembling the plate 'NCC-1701' issued in New York City.
But Koorey's attorney's work is far from done and is now ploughing through hundreds more summonses from as many as 23 other states wanting the 76-year-old to cough up for offenses she did not commit.
“Now I’m going to make a hole in the yard and bury these documents, these hundreds of tickets,” Koorey told the tv station.