HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (News 12 Long Island) – It’s a famous combination for “Trekkies” everywhere; NCC-1701 are the letters and numbers on the “Star Trek” USS Enterprise.
But for a New York woman, that combination was her state-issued license plate on her car.
She never imagined how it would get her into trouble.
It’s been four years of tears for Beda Koorey.
The Huntington grandmother who was losing her eyesight, gave up driving, sold her car and surrendered her license plates in 2020.
“I want to cry because it’s a simple matter that they could have fixed,” Koorey said.
But Koorey’s New York plates shared the same number as the “Star Trek” spaceship USS Enterprise: NCC 1701.
Trekkies all over the globe have been buying matching novelty plates, putting them on their vehicles and racking up hundreds of tickets delivered to Koorey’s mailbox.
She’s even received threats from Ohio and Canada where someone with those fake plates committed crimes.
“Within two hours of receiving the letter, I got a call from the general counsel,” Koorey’s attorney, Kenneth Mollins, said.
Mollins saw Koorey’s story and volunteered his expertise.
“This is a lady who was beaten up by a big bad corporation for four years,” Mollins said.
Although the Department of Motor Vehicles said Koorey was no longer attached to the “Star Trek” plates, Mollins’ research determined her name and address were never removed.
He reached out and involved DMV’s top brass, eventually delivering Koorey news that she called life-altering.
“Your matter has been totally resolved,” Mollins told Koorey.
Koorey will no longer get those tickets.
But who will?
Some companies manufacture “Star Trek” and other novelty plates, selling them with predrilled holes for mounting on vehicles.
Parking and violations officials said they are moving to dismiss her 194 New York City tickets.
Mollins will now work on hundreds of summonses from 23 other states that want Koorey’s money.
“Now I’m going to make a hole in the yard and bury these documents, these hundreds of tickets,” Koorey said.
Part of the confusion may come from states with different license plate rules.
Twenty states require only a rear plate, which means drivers can legally put a novelty or decorative plate on the front. The remaining 30 states require a state-issued plate on both the front and back of the vehicle; New York is one of them.
That may explain why law enforcement would assume a decorative “Star Trek” plate on the front of the car would be a legitimate license plate.
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