Driver used license plate cover to scam toll

He used a remote control to troll the toll, cops allege.

A 70-year-old Key Largo man deployed a remote-controlled license plate cover in an attempt to evade the tolls on Florida’s Turnpike in Miami-Dade County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Unluckily for him, however, he did so in full view of an off-duty FHP trooper.

It was just before 3 p.m. on Saturday when Robert Craig Davis was driving south in his Chrysler Pacifica minivan on the Turnpike approaching the Bird Road toll plaza, the arrest report stated.

That’s when Lt. Alejandro Camacho, who was off duty and driving his own car, said he noticed a black curtain-like sheath of material scroll down to cover the minivan’s license plate.

Then, once the van was well past the toll plaza’s cameras, the curtain scrolled back up to uncover the license plate.

Camacho reported it and followed the van. Troopers did a traffic stop.

Troopers searched the van and found a remote control device in the center console that was used to lower and raise the curtain on the license plate.

In the glove compartment, they found a SunPass transponder inside packaging that shields it from toll readers, the report stated.

Davis was arrested Saturday and released from jail Sunday, records showed. He was charged with organized fraud, cheating, and petit theft.

Florida law states it’s illegal to alter the original appearance of a license plate. That includes plastic covers, over sized frames or any other means of obscuring any part of the plate’s lettering that make it difficult for toll cameras or police to read.

Law enforcement officers can issue tickets and fines for covering all or part of a license plate. The dollar amount may differ from county to county.