MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Two men are facing charges in separate incidents involving fake drive-out tags, officials say.
Memphis Police reportedly stopped a driver identified as 24-year-old Martevious Harth after he drove through a stop sign on Mill and Third. According to court documents, Harth gave the officers three different social security numbers.
After using the third number to identify him, officers discovered that Harth’s license was suspended. Court documents say the officers searched Harth’s vehicle and found eight forged drive-out tags in a bag.
Harth was taken into custody. He’s been charged with eight counts of altering, falsifying, or forging auto tiles or assignment of plates.
Court documents say Memphis Police also stopped a driver identified as 33-year-old Roy Sims on I-240 near Norris Saturday evening. Sims’s license was shown to have been revoked in 2016, and he was reportedly unable to provide proof of insurance.
According to court documents, a detective searched Sims’s vehicle and found a fake drive-out tag inside. The tag was a copy that was not filled and had a fake barcode that could not be scanned.
The detective also discovered the tag attached to the vehicle was counterfeit. Court documents say the tag attached to the vehicle was a laminated piece of paper.
Court documents say the detective contacted the dealership listed on the drive-out tag. The dealership’s owner reportedly said he did not issue the tag to Sims’s vehicle and that the tag number was reported stolen out of Marion, Arkansas. The owner also told the detective someone was making copies of that particular tag and changing the dates on them.
Sims was taken into custody. Court documents say Sims claimed he bought that tag and more from a dealer on Dunn Avenue. Sims also claimed a mechanic left the other drive-out tag in the back of his vehicle to “help him out.”
Sims is facing several charges, including forgery and driving with a suspended/revoked license.