Felony charge after driver pulled over with phony license plate
SPRINGVILLE, N.Y. --A western New York woman is facing a felony charge after a deputy pulled her over driving with a homemade license plate Wednesday morning.
The Erie County Sheriff's deputy was patrolling in Springville when he noticed a woman driving a car with a missing front license plate and a rear plate that was "obviously an imitation New York license plate," the sheriff's department wrote in a Facebook post.
The license plate was made of cardboard and painted to replicate a New York plate, police say. The driver, Amanda Schweickert, 28, was allegedly operating the vehicle with a suspended registration and without insurance.
Schweickert was arrested and charged with a felony count of possessing a forged instrument, a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle with a suspend registration and three vehicle and traffic infractions, police say.
The department posted a photo of the "do-it-yourself" plate on their Facebook page, and the image quickly went viral across social media.
The "plate" was seized and placed into evidence, police say.