Press Release - 06-01-2015

NYS DMV Press Release

 

Contact:
Joe Morrissey
[email protected]
Chet Lasell
[email protected]


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
June 1, 2015 

Office of Communications
6 Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY  12228

 

 

TARGETED UNDERAGE DRINKING AND FAKE ID ENFORCEMENT BY DMV NETS 21 ARRESTS AT
SARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ON SUNDAY
18 Counterfeit Driver Licenses Seized from Underage Concertgoers

 

State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Deputy Commissioner Thomas Higgins today announced that the DMV’s underage drinking enforcement action at the Lady Antebellum concert on Sunday at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) resulted in the arrest of 21 concertgoers and the seizure of 18 counterfeit licenses.

This action was conducted by the DMV’s Division of Field Investigation in cooperation with New York State Park Police and is supported by the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) in order to deter minors from abusing alcohol and driving while impaired.  

The legal drinking age in New York State is 21. 

“The DMV is committed to deterring underage drinking and keeping our roads safe from drunk drivers and these enforcement actions will protect the lives of our young people and increase traffic safety for every New Yorker,” said Deputy Commissioner Higgins. 

On Sunday night, seven DMV investigators who are familiar with documents both in-state and out-of-state were stationed at the ID checkpoint set-up by SPAC to confirm the age of all patrons wishing to buy alcohol at the event.  Using their training, investigators authenticated identification documents and identified fake ID’s at this event.

Overall DMV investigators identified 17 individuals using counterfeit licenses and 4 individuals using someone else's license. Among the 18 counterfeit licenses confiscated Sunday, six were from Connecticut, three from Rhode Island, two from Maryland, two from Ohio, and one each from Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Mississippi and Maine. Four individuals were arrested for use of another person’s legal driver license, while one individual possessed two fake driver licenses from two different states. 

All those arrested were criminally charged with a criminal violation of 509.6 of the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law and will be subject to administrative action which normally results in a revocation of their license privilege for a minimum of 90 days and up to one year.

 Uniformed and plainclothes State Park Police officers also patrolled parking lots, picnic areas and other park grounds outside of SPAC to thwart the use of alcohol in the park in violation of park regulations.

“Law enforcement will continue its zero tolerance policy for underage drinking in our State Parks,” State Park Police Chief David Herrick said. “We are grateful for the assistance of DMV to help keep concert-goers safe and reduce the number of intoxicated drivers on the roadways.”

The majority of counterfeit licenses recovered by DMV’s Division of Field Investigation are purchased over the internet from foreign companies. DMV works with federal and state law enforcement agencies to crack down on these counterfeiters by identifying the source and working to shut down their operations and has been doing so for more than a decade. More than 2,600 people have been arrested since 2009. 

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