A Long Island man facing criminal charges after police say he tampered with several red light cameras said he knew he would be arrested after posting video of his actions online, declaring it was done in protest of what he called government abuse. Sheldon Dutes reports.
A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to destroying the wiring of numerous red light cameras last year.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota says Stephen Ruth, of Centereach, pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal mischief and was sentenced to a year of interim probation.
Spota says Ruth admitted to removing the covers of circuit boxes operating the cameras in Coram and Centereach and cut the wiring inside, rendering them inoperable. It happened in April last year.
Spota says the cost to fix the 17 cameras is about $5,000 per unit or a total of $85,000. He says the court will decide at a hearing how much Ruth is required to pay back.
Ruth's attorney says he was trying to save lives because the cameras and shortened yellow lights increased accidents.
