Police: Man charged with red light camera tampering
A Suffolk man has been arrested after posting a video of how to disable red light cameras. Police received tips after Stephen Ruth, of Centereach, shared the video on Facebook that showed him re-aiming
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Aug 27, 2015, 2:01 AM
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Updated 3,414 days ago
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A Suffolk man has been arrested after posting a video of how to disable red light cameras.
Police received tips after Stephen Ruth, of Centereach, shared the video on Facebook that showed him re-aiming the cameras so they would not capture red light violators.
Police say Ruth re-pointed two cameras located at Hawkins Avenue and the LIE service road in Ronkonkoma. In addition, officials say Ruth tampered with two other cameras in different locations this month.
In the video, Ruth proclaims that he saved people about $10,000 by tampering with a camera. Ruth told News 12 that he's glad that he tampered with the red light camera.
"I saw senior citizens unaware of their surroundings, knowing they were on camera. I figure these senior citizens fought for our country, and now they're getting abused by it. It's not right," says Ruth.
Ruth admits he has received "five or six" red light tickets, and says his real issue is when he gets one while making a right turn at a red light.
Suffolk police have defended the cameras as a public safety tool.
The 42-year-old is charged with criminal tampering and obstruction of governmental administration.
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