Pineville Police Bust Louisiana Driver Using DIY License Plate Printed at Walgreens
When it comes to paper plates in Louisiana, we usually see them piled high with barbecue at a backyard cookout around this time of year, not bolted to the back of a car. But in Pineville, police pulled over a driver whose idea of “do-it-yourself” took a hard left into illegal territory.
According to a recent Facebook post by the Pineville Police Department, an officer stopped a vehicle only to find a license plate printed on glossy photo paper—reportedly from Walgreens—and taped to the car like a high school social studies project gone wrong. The department jokingly dubbed it a “DIY Project Fail” and gave the driver an “A for effort… and a citation for, well, everything else.”
The fake plate even featured visible packing tape and what appeared to be “evidence” handwritten onto the paper, as if the driver solved their own case before police had to.
While the post quickly went viral for its humor, grabbing hundreds of comments and laughs from locals, there's a serious issue beneath it all. With many uninsured or improperly documented vehicles on Louisiana roads, this situation only contributes to our state's already high auto insurance rates.
One Facebook commenter said, “They didn’t even trim it up,” while another jokingly offered advice: “Use high-gloss poster board next time.” Others pointed out how incidents like these aren’t uncommon, with reports of fake inspection stickers and other paper-based attempts at passing as legal.
The police department's final message? Save the paper plates for your next BBQ—and leave the real plates to the DMV.
