COMMACK, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — Nice try! A Long Island man was busted on the Long Island Expressway on Wednesday night after he failed to fool cops with a fake passenger to ride in the HOV lane, police said.
Suffolk County Highway Patrol Officer Jonathan Abrams was driving on the highway just before the Sagtikos Parkway at exit 52 in Commack when he noticed something strange in the passenger seat of a 2017 Nissan sedan traveling in the HOV lane at about 7:15 p.m.
He pulled over the vehicle and found the driver, 20-year-old Justin Kunis of Lake Grove, had attached a white drama mask to the headrest of the front passenger seat to make it look like there was someone else in the car with him.
Kunis was issued a summons for violating the HOV occupancy law.
The HOV lanes are reserved for buses or vehicles with two or more occupants weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.