When a Darien police officer questioned a New Jersey driver who said he was lost, police said, the officer found the driver had no driver’s license, no registration, no insurance and phony license plates on the 2007 Lincoln Town Car he was driving.
The man told the officer he had bought the car the night before in New York, police said. A computer records check showed the car wasn’t listed as stolen.
Darien police gave these further details about the incident (including accusations not proven in court):
At 3:21 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28, the police officer drove up behind Oliver Pesantez, 33, of Kearny, N.J. as Pesantez slowly drove south on Noroton Avenue to its intersection with the Post Road. There, Pesantez stopped for 15 seconds at a flashing red light, although no other vehicles were approaching the intersection from either direction.
Pesantez eventually turned right and parked in front of Noroton Presbyterian Church. He rolled down his window and waved to the officer, who stopped. Pesantez said he was looking for a house at a particular address on the Post Road and hadn’t been able to find it. He said he was in town to pick up some friends there and take them home.
The officer asked to see his driver’s license, and Pesantez said he didn’t have one — or, it turned out, the other documents the officer asked to see. There was no computer record of the license plate number, and when the officer looked closer at them, the Georgia plates appeared to be counterfeited out of plastic.
Pesantez was issued a misdemeanor summons charging him with driving without a license, without vehicle registration, without insurance and without proper license plates. The car was towed.
Pesantez later appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford and is due to appear there again on March 23. He hasn’t yet entered a plea, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website.