2/7/2006
South Carolina: Unmarked, Junk Pickup Used in Speed TrapPolice in Charleston County, South Carolina are using an unmarked junk pickup truck to trap and give motorists speeding tickets.
Charleston County, South Carolina sheriffs are using a beat up pickup truck to sneak up on surprised motorists and issue speeding tickets. Police seized the V-6 powered domestic long-bed truck in a drug raid. They then equipped it with blue police lights and tinted windows, making it very hard to identify as a legitimate police vehicle.
"I don't know any other officers who drive (an unmarked) pickup truck," police truck driver Mathew Pagliarini told the Post and Courier newspaper. "When I'm driving around with my wife in a normal car, we always see drivers do crazy things that they wouldn't do if they saw a police car. Now I can do something about it."
Pagliarini was unfazed by the notion that his efforts could make it easier for others to pose as police officers. "You never know," he said. "You get some freaks driving around with blue lights. Last night two guys posing as police officers robbed some folks in North Charleston."