Free Chuck Zito!

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch hit the ground running cleaning up crime in the city by arresting Public Enemy number one: Chuck Zito! Zito’s crime against humanity: possession of a forged instrument. According to Zito, he was stopped on the highway heading to the Throgs Neck Bridge to do some business with the car at a car shop. He was stopped and the arresting officer said that the dealer tag was bogus and was placed under arrest. Zito claims that the registration matched the tag.  Here’s my take on things.

Zito was stopped for an alleged “ghost tag.” When they were running the tag, did they cross reference with the vin (Vehicle Identification Number)? Did they run the vin? Did they contact Florida DMV to verify the plate? And to charge a C class felony!? He’s not Frank Abagnale or some dude in India pretending to be Apple, Microsoft or your bank.

Forget all the penal, and vehicle laws and even Zito for a moment. Look at the car itself. The car is a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle in mint condition. It’s worth a fortune. Do you think the owner of that car is going to cut corners and risk having that car taken away and being impounded!?

Another question is: where was the boss? Somebody with some sense should have two and two together. This wasn’t someone from one of the chop shops in Flushing in a Honda Accord with a paper license plate!

The New York Post and TMZ really reached for this one.

“The allegedly phony plate on Zito’s Chevelle — identified by TMZ — has appeared on at least two other vintage cars in his extensive collection, according to photos he’s posted to social media.”

A dealer plate is for a person or business that deals with cars. Buying, selling, fixing, transporting or salvaging. You can use the same dealer plate for multiple cars!