Sam Esposito, the former president of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association, has been arrested for allegedly ripping off out-of-state license plates from multiple cars, according to authorities.
Police from the 102nd Precinct arrested Esposito on Saturday, July 20, following a reported incident earlier in the week on Sunday, July 14, New York Court records show.
The complainant, Prakash Raghunauth, is one of the owners of the family-owned auto repair shop Ramesh and Son, located at 86-09 101st Ave. in Ozone Park. The repair shop has been criticized for having cars parked on the street outside, taking up parking spaces.
Raghunath said he reported the incident to the police after obtaining video footage from two nearby businesses of Esposito stealing the plates. The video appears to show Esposito ripping off license plates from the front of his shop and in front of a nearby gas station on Rockaway Boulevard this month.
Video footage obtained by QNS from the auto shop owner shows what appears to be Esposito in a silver van pulling up to cars parked near the shop and ripping off their license plates on multiple occasions.
Esposito has a long history of trying to get parked vehicles that are in derelict condition or unregistered off the streets of Ozone Park. He has been outspoken on the issue at both civic group meetings and on social media.
The OZPK civic leader, who admitted to QNS that he ripped off the plates, said he was only doing his civic duty and will continue to have cars towed from the area, regardless of any setbacks. He took the plates since vehicles without them are more likely to be towed.
Overall, he said he is not worried about the situation.
“People aren’t going to bully me
to stop doing the work that I do,” Esposito said, adding earlier that
thousands of illegal, derelict and unregistered cars are in Ozone Park
alone.
