Speeding man dresses as monkey to elude cops

[Shinola]

Monkey disguise eludes cops, but speeding prankster headed for trouble as I.D. revealed

BY Christina Boyle
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, September 13th 2009, 4:00 AM


David VonTesmar is accused of wearing monkey mask while speeding on Phoenix Arizon'a highways.



An Arizona man with a lead foot is trying to make a monkey out of cops - by wearing a monkey mask.


Dave VonTesmar has racked up thousands of dollars worth of speeding tickets while driving in his disguise through photo radar zones in Phoenix.


So far, cops have not been able to collect a cent because until recently they couldn't identify the man behind the mask in the speeding white Subaru.


"You've got to identify the driver, and if you can't it's not a valid ticket," the 47-year-old Phoenix flight attendant said.


More than 50 of VonTesmar's tickets became invalid because they expired.
Now that cops have surveillance photos of VonTesmar donning the mask, they are pressing him to pay for 37 tickets, totaling at least $6,700 in fines.


"We're just asking for his fines to be paid," said Bart Graves, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.


VonTesmar said he has nothing against the police, but he has a problem with the cameras that were introduced on state highways a year ago - and have generated more than $23 million revenue.


Each fine costs $165 plus a 10% penalty, a fine VonTesmar dismisses as "a speed tax."


"It's a peaceful act of resistance - that's what this country was founded on," VonTesmar said.


"I'm not thumbing my nose at [the Department of Public Safety], but photo radar is not a DPS officer protecting public safety."


VonTesmar insisted he was no speed demon and that he was just keeping up with traffic.


He noted that most of the tickets he racked up were for going 11-15 mph over the speed limit.


The road warrior also has come up with another getup to get around the cops - a giraffe mask.

Read more: Monkey disguise eludes cops, but speeding prankster headed for trouble as I.D. revealed

[celeb_2006]

So he wore the masks to deliberately attempt to fool the cameras and the system?

Is he looking for a book deal, does he have a twitter account now?

Just pay the f**king fine and stop trying to be an internet folk hero.

[Just Kill Me]

I got a ticket a couple weeks ago for 16 over the speed limit; $240 right there.

I got a red light camera ticket because I did not come to a complete stop to make a right on red. I do think the red light cameras are a good thing but speeding cameras? That is fucking ridiculous.

[MoodyJenny86]

Just got pulled over earlier today on the highway for going like 78 in a 55 >.< I know! Stupid, stupid- and I deserved it!...so yeah, it's the first I've been pulled over in years and the cop told me he only wrote down that I was going 70 which ended up saving me about $40 bucks for the fine...it's still $123 though...I have the option to take a class but fuck that! It's from 8:30-4:00 on a weekend and I've been to 2 already...I'd rather just pay the fine and be done with it.

The cop must have been having a good day/feeling generous because I was pretty surprised not only by him fibbing on my citation but also by how friendly and chatty he was with me.

[blissfullyunaware]

It's only common sense to know where these cameras are in the first place. Or abide by the law and quit speeding! You don't know how many times some idiot has almost caused an accident while I've been on the road.

[mtlebay]

Can the photo radar not catch the license plate?

[Shinola]

Originally Posted by mtlebay

Can the photo radar not catch the license plate?

There's a loophole that says something like you have to be able to identify the driver in order to issue the citation. I guess because a single car could have several different possible drivers--you could even lend your car to someone.