Driver Allegedly Tried to Fool Police with 'Homemade' Insurance Card

An Oak Lawn woman was charged Thursday after she tried to dupe Palos Park police with a homemade insurance card, police said.

Jennifer King, 33, of Oak Lawn, came the police department Thursday afternoon to retrieve her car from impound, after her arrest early Thursday morning. She provided police with an insurance card laden with “assorted misspelled words and only half the vehicle identification numbers,” police said Thursday evening.

Police discovered the insurance documents were for a vehicle located in Colorado, and the insurance had been canceled more than 10 years earlier, police said. She was charged with one count of providing a false insurance document.

It wasn’t King’s first attempt to provide police with invalid insurance information. After being stopped early Thursday morning in the 7800 block of 127th Street, King handed officers an insurance card that did not cover the vehicle which she was driving. She was charged with no valid insurance and driving on suspended license, and bonded out early Thursday morning.

Police warn people to be aware that counterfeit insurance cards are not worth the paper they are “Copied or pasted on.” Anyone possessing a fake insurance card is driving a vehicle with no valid insurance. In addition, accident claims filed by victims who believed the other driver was insured, will realize an insurance company will not cover a driver with forged insurance documents.

If the person knowingly gives false information to the police, they can be charged with an additional offense. The charge may be intent to defraud, making a false statement to a police officer, or something similar. This charge is in addition to any other charges regarding the accident, including failure to provide proof of insurance.

King was issued a March 17 court date.