Long Island police say they want a driver off the road, before someone gets hurt. They slapped handcuffs on a 23-year-old woman on charges of driving without a license and speeding — after she somehow racked up 67 traffic tickets. NBC New York’s Greg Cergol reports.
A 23-year-old Long Island woman was arrested Tuesday morning for driving with a whopping 65 license suspensions, according to Suffolk County Police.
Janelda Camille, of Medford, was taken into custody along eastbound Sunrise Highway in Patchogue shortly after 2 a.m. after police stopped her near exit 52 after she was allegedly seen speeding, police said. The young driver was said to be traveling about 95 miles an hour.
When police stopped the 2000 Honda Accord that Camille was allegedly driving, they found that she had 65 suspensions on 12 dates. That includes a crash in 2021.
"Officers pulled her over. They ask her for her license. She doesn’t have it," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison — adding that she didn't have it because it had been suspended more than five dozen times. "I’m just glad we were able to stop this individual before she ended up hurting somebody of hurting herself."
The driver never answered any of the summonses she had previously been given, and was forced to surrender her license in February. But that didn't stop her from getting behind the wheel.
Camille was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree and was also issued a summons for speeding, police said. She is facing jail time.
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Attorney information for Camille was not immediately known. There was no answer at the door of an old address listed for Camille, as well as no car in the driveway.
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Defense attorney John Powers represents suspended drivers, but does not know Camille. He wonders why she never came to court to resolve her many tickets.
"Of course it could be that they want to thumb their nose at the system, but there also may be an underlying issue with that person," said Powers.
Commissioner Harrison said that currently, the DMV doesn’t alert police about drivers with multiple suspensions, but he said police needs to connect with the DMV in order to "make sure we know these people and are on our radar."
