Miller Place Woman Busted for HOV Lane Phony Passenger Ploy on LIE: Police

A Miller Place woman was issued multiple tickets Thursday morning after she was pulled over for driving with a phony passenger in the HOV lane on the Long Island Expressway in Dix Hills, police said.

According to Suffolk Police, Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Spina was traveling in the left lane of the westbound Long Island Expressway, near exit 51, when he became suspicious of the front seat passenger in a 2011 Subaru Outback traveling in the HOV lane.

When Spina pulled over the vehicle, he observed that the driver, 61-year-old Candice Breen-Warren, had piled clothing, topped by a baseball hat, and a briefcase in the passenger seat in an attempt to resemble a person, police said.

Breen-Warren was issued summonses for the HOV occupancy violation as well as driving an unregistered and uninspected vehicle, police said.

Last year, a 56-year-old man was busted in a similar ploy in the same location on the LIE.