Like many states, New York inspects cars to make sure they’re (roughly) safe enough to be on the road, and to prove that’s the case, they require an inspection sticker to be displayed on the windshield. Now, not everyone has the time, money, or a car that meets all the inspection standards, which can lead some people to make fake stickers. If you’re going to try this, though, I suggest you use more than the half of an ass.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office posted an image of the forged inspection sticker to Facebook:
Did I say half-ass up there? This might be closer to a quarter-ass effort.
Just for reference, here’s what real inspection stickers look like, from the New York State Police’s guide to spotting (much better) fakes:
I gotta say, I really love what went down here. The hand-drawn bar code is especially fun, as is the care to hole-punch the proper month out of the hand-drawn-on-construction-paper sticker. Like the lack of the hole was going to be the thing that gave this away.
This looks like it took five minutes in a car to make. The perfunctory attempt to replicate the stamped area just to the right of the year, the rushed, sloppy-looking lettering, the fact there is a barcode and number, it’s all so very, very wonderful.
According to the Albany Times-Union, Manuel Muniz, 35, was ticketed for the inspection sticker and for having an unregistered motor vehicle, though it could get worse.
But [Sheriff Jeff Smith] said the investigation is not complete and Muniz could face more serious charges including forgery.
And any forgery charge could be “a felony, actually, because it’s a government document,” the sheriff said.
Bang-up job all around.