Man busted tampering with red light cameras

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Steve Ruth has been arrested after posting video to Facebook showing him using an expandable pole to turn red light cameras on the Long Island Expressway towards the sky.

A man is seen on video that he posted to Facebook using an expandable pole to turn red light cameras on the Long Island Expressway towards the sky so they wouldn't take pictures of license plates.  "Did you ever think that the only people who have to pay these tickets are hard working Americans? I did. If you want to see what I just did, it's very simple. You just push the camera upward. Just like that," Stephen Ruth says in the video posted on Aug. 24.

On Aug. 21 and Aug. 24, Suffolk County Police say Ruth tampered with cameras on Ocean Avenue and the Long Island Expressway South Service Road.  On Wednesday, Ruth tampered with two cameras located at Hawkins Avenue and the Long Island Expressway South Service Road in Ronkonkoma.

 

 

Ruth was arrested at his home in Centereach on Tuesday.

He faces several charges including criminal tampering and obstruction of governmental administration. The charges are misdemeanors.

A post on his Facebook page after the arrest shows Ruth has little remorse:

"Of course I knew I would be arrested. I did it for the people who come back from war and get abused by these cameras. I did it because senior citizens are getting these, the same ones that went to war for us. "