Woman fights to have license cleared after someone allegedly uses it during 4 traffic stops
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A Brooklyn woman is fighting to have her license cleared after someone used a picture of her license after being pulled over by police. It didn't happen just once, but four times and every traffic stop was caught on officers' body-worn cameras.
Stephany Lebron, of Flatbush, reached out to 7 On Your Side Investigates after racking up hundreds of dollars in fines, points on her license and her license being suspended all because of eight tickets that she, herself, did not get.
"I shouldn't have to go to court for something I didn't do," Lebron told Eyewitness News investigative reporter Kristin Thorne.
New York State Police and the NYPD arrested Nancy Diaz, who also goes by Nancy Lopez, for false personation.
Lebron said Diaz used to be a family friend, but she has no idea how Diaz got a picture of her license.
"I wish I knew," Lebron said.
Eyewitness News obtained the officer body-cam videos from all four traffic stops. In each video, Diaz shows officers a picture of a license on her phone. The officers, including a New York State trooper and several NYPD officers, do not question whether Diaz is the woman on the license.
The same state trooper pulled over Diaz on July 14, 2022 and then 11 days later on July 25.
On July 25, the trooper tells Diaz she hopes she doesn't pull her over again.
"You won't," Diaz responds.
On July 27, the NYPD nabs Diaz for running a red light. The officer takes a picture of the picture of the license on Diaz's phone, returns to his patrol vehicle and calls in the license. He transcribes the name on the license as Stephany Lebron.
Two days later, the NYPD pulls over Diaz again for running a red light.
Lebron didn't know about the tickets until applying for a job in which they ran a license check.
"They came back and let me know that my license was suspended," she said. "I'm like, no. There's nothing I would have done that would cause my license to be suspended."
Lebron issued Freedom of Information Act requests through New York State Police and the NYPD in order to obtain the bodycam videos to prove she was not involved.
Despite that, she has struggled to have the tickets dismissed, which, according to the DMV, can only be done by a judge. Lebron's court dates, however, keep getting delayed and some are now scheduled for August 2024.
In October 2022, Lebron was able to explain to a judge that her identity was stolen and a judge removed the license suspension, but all the points and tickets remain, preventing Lebron from joining a union and getting certain jobs. She also owes $560 to the DMV.
"It's kind of been like delaying my life more than you would think it would," Lebron said in tears.
Eyewitness News reached out to Diaz several times by phone and text message. She said she was being "harassed" and would not respond to questions about why she allegedly used Lebron's license and the false personation charges.
Lebron filed a complaint with the DMV's Division of Field Investigations.
The DMV told Eyewitness News it initiated an investigation into Lebron's claim, but that the criminal investigation being conducted by the NYPD supersedes any enforcement action the DMV could take in the case.
The DMV also said it could not unilaterally dismiss Lebron's tickets and she would have to go to court to contest them.
The DMV said it receives approximately one complaint per month from someone who says another person provided a photo of their ID during a traffic stop.
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