By Elbert Aull
Portland Press Herald
State Police began an internal investigation Wednesday after a used car dealer spotted one of his license plates - reported missing nine years ago - on the back of an unmarked cruiser.
The car dealer’s wife said she hunted down the unmarked police cruiser on Interstate 95 and photographed the long-missing plate with her cell phone.
Authorities said they want to know whether the trooper patrolled the southern part of the interstate with a car dealer’s missing plate Wednesday morning and, if so, why.
The trooper could be disciplined if authorities determine he used an unauthorized plate.
The couple, who own DAB Inc., an auto dealership and parts supplier in Freeport, said they want to know why they were never told that police had their plate, which was reported missing in 1998.
“Is this common practice for them?” asked David Bolduc, who owns the business with his wife.
Bolduc was traveling from an automobile auction in York County to his dealership around 8:30 a.m., when a cruiser passed him on the interstate.
He said he noticed the dealer tags first.
“I look and see a used car plate. I think, ‘no, that’s not right,’” Bolduc said.
He said he did a double take when he saw the number “491" on the plate. That’s his identification number with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and all of his plates begin with those three numbers.
Bolduc said he remembered reporting a stolen tag and called his wife - he was driving a car carrier and didn’t want to cause a wreck stalking the police cruiser.
Linda Bolduc said she left her home in Old Orchard Beach and searched for the cruiser for about an hour between the Saco and Biddeford exits, where police were watching for speeders.
When a cruiser bearing the long-missing “491 J” plate passed her to pull over another driver, she parked behind the two cars in the breakdown lane and snapped a picture with her cell phone.
Linda Bolduc, who e-mailed the photo to the Portland Press Herald, said the trooper threatened to arrest her for obstruction of justice, but calmed down after she explained he had a long lost license plate attached to the back of his cruiser.
She asked the trooper where he got the plate, and he said he confiscated it during the late 1990s, around the time the couple reported it lost or stolen and paid the state $5.50 to get a replacement.
She did not get the trooper’s name, and he didn’t know where he picked up the plate, she said.
The Bolducs said police had no right to use the plate.
“It’s illegal for you and me to do something like that,” Linda Bolduc said.
It is illegal to attach incorrect license plates to vehicles in Maine. The Department of the Secretary of State issues special plates to unmarked police vehicles, but officers are not permitted to remove and attach civilian or business tags at their own discretion.
“State Police vehicles, unmarked or otherwise, are not going to be displaying dealer tags,” said Don Cookson, a department spokesman.
Col. Craig Poulin, chief of the State Police, declined to identify the subject of the misconduct investigation, which he called “fairly serious.”
Poulin said internal affairs investigators will try to confirm whether the trooper had a missing business plate on his cruiser and, if so, where he got it.
“It’s just not right. It’s against the law, plainly against the law,” David Bolduc said.
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