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Get arrested in DC for expired tags

Discussion in 'Mid-Atlantic Region - USA (PA, DE, MD, DC, VA)' started by toggie, Aug 5, 2010.

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  1. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    Nov 30, 2003
    19,036
    Virginia
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    Toggie (Ron)
    #1 toggie, Aug 5, 2010
    Warning: If your license plate registration tags have been expired, don't drive in DC.
    You may be handcuffed and taken to jail with your car towed and impounded.
    This is true even if your car is registered in MD or VA.

    I have heard of this happening to a few people so far.
    Here is a news story of it happening to Mom who lives in MD.

    http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=2019280

    Expired tags put mom behind bars
    August 5, 2010 - 1:18pm

    WASHINGTON -- The top cop in the District is speaking out about the arrest of the Maryland mother over an expired vehicle registration.

    "In most cases, officers will take the tags, impound the vehicle, and then the owner has to come back and show proof of registration -- it is a discretionary arrest," said Chief Cathy Lanier on WTOP's Ask the Chief Program Thursday.

    Nycci Nellis, who was on her way to dinner the night of July 29, was pulled over, handcuffed and locked up in two jails for hours because her car registration had expired.

    It happened shortly after Nellis crossed into the District from Montgomery County last Thursday.

    "I don't know the circumstances, so I don't know that I want to condemn the actions of the officer at this point," Lanier said. "But it is a law that is on the books and sometimes is enforced."

    Nellis' tags had been expired for three months.

    "I was in the wrong, and I absolutely should have had my car registration done. But I do think being handcuffed, put into a police car, put into solitary confinement, then taken downtown after being handcuffed once again and put in the woman's ward was excessive, and almost gratuitous," Nellis said

    She had never been arrested previously.

    "It is a little unnerving. There were a lot of women in there, and they were not happy women, and there were a lot of men upstairs and they were very vocally unhappy."

    "I didn't know if my husband knew where I was. I had no contact with anybody. I was just there."

    D.C. Police tell WTOP they usually only write a ticket for a tag that has been expired less than 30 days, but after that, it is an arrestable offense.

    "If you failed to renew your tags for three months, then your car is technically unregistered," D.C. Lt. Nicholas Breul tells WTOP. "And if you are driving around an unregistered vehicle, you may be driving around an uninsured vehicle as well."

    Similar rules apply with expired drivers licenses in the District.

    In Maryland, the maximum penalty for driving on an expired registration is a $500 fine. But in Virginia -- it's a Class Two misdemeanor subject to a $1,000 fine and six months behind bars. So it varies from state-to-state.

    D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson -- who has oversight of public safety in the city -- agrees with the current practice.

    "If the issue is whether or not this is excessive, the fact that the tags have been expired for three months is excessive," Mendelson says.

    Mendelson does believe the process for releasing Nellis could have gone smoother.

    "We are looking at the whole issue of citation release. The idea that this person could have been taken to one police station and given a ticket seems to be a bit gentler."

    In the spirit of full disclosure, Nycci Nellis is a weekend contributor to WTOP. Her tags are now up-to-date.
     
  2. WCH

    WCH F1 Veteran
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    Mar 16, 2003
    5,180
    #2 WCH, Aug 5, 2010
    Good to know DC has eliminated all of its violent crime and corruption.

    FY DC, Counciman Mendelson and the DC cops! Sorry, but a cop who arrests you for expired tags is a moron.
     
  3. PhillipJ

    PhillipJ Karting

    Jan 4, 2010
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    Phillip Jones
    #3 PhillipJ, Aug 5, 2010
  4. turbos7903

    turbos7903 F1 Rookie

    Mar 16, 2006
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    delaware
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    jon walton
    #4 turbos7903, Aug 5, 2010
    Wow that really sucks. Here in the fine State of Delaware its a $25 fine for driving a car with expired tags AND that is waived if you go to court and show you subsequently went and registered your car. I know because I just went to court for having a Expired Tag on my truck . It expired in NOVEMBER 2009. And it was JULY 2010 !!! I love Delaware more and more every day! Jon in Delaware
     
  5. CornersWell

    CornersWell F1 Rookie

    Nov 24, 2004
    4,885
    #5 CornersWell, Aug 5, 2010
    Remember the District's "Zero Tolerance" for DUIs? One glass of wine or beer and you get a free DC's-Finest cab ride.

    Or, how about the "shooting fish in the barrel" in G'town when they were picking off people who had just left Cafe Milano without their lights on (when the valet hadn't put them on)?

    The District is no longer enjoyable to me. Not that dodging bullets, addicts and drug deals was ever enjoyable. Where I attended law school (a prominent DC school), next door was a drug clinic. Usually, everyone's bike post was stolen by the end of the day. I guess they've solved that problem, though!

    CW
     
  6. davebdave

    davebdave Formula 3
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    Mar 18, 2007
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    #6 davebdave, Aug 6, 2010
    Yikes, A VA cop got me for 6 months out in our Subaru. I told him I probably just forgot to put on the sticker. He said nice try but he already checked it. He still let me go with a warning and a promise to drive straight home. Very nice of him. Now, where did I put my Virginia personal property tax bill?
    Dave
     
  7. lashss

    lashss F1 Rookie

    Nov 26, 2003
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    LSJ
    #7 lashss, Aug 6, 2010
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2010
    Regardless of what the laws "on the books" are for MD, DC, or VA...the enforcement gap is even larger.

    In MD, I got pulled over for doing 80 in a 30 with out of state tags that expired in early 2009. I was in a car that I rarely ever drove towards the end of my ownership with it and just didn't feel like renewing the registration.

    Not only did I not get a ticket, I didn't even get a warning. The office ran my license and reminded me that I needed to get my plates renewed.

    The local laws are one thing...and there is a big gap present there to begin with as Toggie's post shows.

    Enforcement is another matter and the gap is even wider.

    LS
     
  8. FUNRARI

    FUNRARI Formula Junior

    Nov 5, 2008
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    #8 FUNRARI, Aug 6, 2010
    If you have an expired tag and also a missing front tag you will also be tarred and feathered!
     
  9. MBFerrari

    MBFerrari F1 Veteran

    Jul 2, 2008
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    #9 MBFerrari, Aug 7, 2010
    Unreal. I don't have a great amount of affinity for the district...

     
  10. jfortner

    jfortner Karting

    Apr 28, 2010
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    Joe A Fortner
    #10 jfortner, Aug 13, 2010
    Everywhere I have lived during my adult life, including in Virginia for the past nearly forty years, the state has ALWAYS sent me reminders that my vehicle registrations (including my boats) were due for renewal. The state always provides the appropriate documents to fill out to accomplish that. So if you get nailed for not keeping your registration up to date, well, suck it up, cupcake; you brought it on yourself.
    JAF
     
  11. CornersWell

    CornersWell F1 Rookie

    Nov 24, 2004
    4,885
    #11 CornersWell, Aug 13, 2010
    This is not always true. There have been years when notices did not make it through to me (thanks, USPS, you're SOOO reliable).

    And, when I'm gone for months on end due to my travel schedule, renewing my tags (or my safety inspection) isn't necessarily the first thing on my mind when I visit my VA residence. I get around to it, but it's usually not the single most-pressing matter. So, I can see how it's possible to let them lapse, but I don't think it appropriate to haul people to jail and tow their vehicles for minor, bureaucratic violations. Write a fix-it ticket. Send them on their way. Does it make any sense to toss a suburban housewife into the big house for (gasp!) expired tags? That's what seems to be the disconnect.

    CW
     

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