It's amazing what a little paint can do — but when a license plate is your canvas, it becomes DIY registration fraud.
Last month, deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department cited a driver who took some creative liberties with renewing their vehicle registration.
Law enforcement discovered the vehicle's rear license plate had an orange rectangle painted in the top right hand corner to match this year's registration sticker color, with the year 2023 painted inside the box.
The Sheriff's Office said the traffic stop occurred on May 3 in the area of 2nd Street and Four Wheel Drive in the city of Norco.
"Don't drive the vehicle if you can't PAY (not paint) the registration," read a post on the Norco sheriff station's Facebook page.
California's vehicle code states penalties of up to one year in jail can be prosecuted for registration fraud; however, in this case the driver was cited for driving on a suspended license, lacking proof of insurance and expired vehicle registration. The vehicle was also impounded and stored on a one-day hold, authorities said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
