Cameron Probert
Tri-City Herald
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Passersby spotted something strange about a license plate on a white Cadillac in a Kennewick parking lot.
Instead of a Washington state issued plate, there was a piece of cardboard.
“Private” was written in black marker.
Above it, the artist had penned, “No plate required,” and underneath was written, “God Given Right to Travle.”
The owner also had cited a federal law on the “plate” that referred to the decimal system used for money, said a Kennewick police Facebook post.
The car was spotted leaving a Kennewick Avenue parking lot shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, but it didn’t take officers long to find it parked along the north side of Olympia Street near Kennewick Avenue.
Police discovered one of the passengers, Blaine Blair, 32, of Pasco, had a warrant for his arrest after he missed a court hearing. He was taken to the Benton County jail.
State law requires license plates to be attached to the front and rear of a vehicle, according to the Washington State Patrol.
However, the Cadillac driver was not cited because the car was not moving when police found it.
The owner of the Cadillac wasn’t the only one trying to find a way around a state law.
A Benton County deputy spotted a driver Friday in Benton City who had attached a flashlight to his bumper with a zip tie, so he could light up his license plate.
“We commended him for ‘thinking outside the box,’ however had to explain why this is illegal,” the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
https://www.facebook.com/BenCoWASheriff/photos/a.334172180327602/852173225194159/?type=3&theater
State law “requires the rear license plate to be illuminated and wired to be lighted whenever headlights or auxiliary lights are lighted.”
The key point is that the lights have to be wired into the car, so they turn on when the lights are activated, said the sheriff’s office. On top of everything else, the flashlight didn’t work.
The driver also had a suspended license.