NEW YORK (PNN) - September 21, 2016 - Is he a hero of the people or an enemy of the state?
A New York man who has become known as the “Red Light Robin Hood” is attempting to run for state senate, despite the fact that he is facing charges that could put him in jail for years… and he may actually have a chance at winning. Stephen Ruth, also known as the “Red Light Robin Hood” recently announced that he is officially on the ballot to run for the Senate of the New York 2nd District.
Last month, 43-year-old Ruth, who faces felony charges for damaging red light cameras in Suffolk County, started collected signatures for a petition to run for the Senate.
“It’s time to get the word to there and put the Red Light Robin Hood in office to fight for the people, just like I’ve been fighting this unconstitutional program,” a previous post on his Facebook page reads. “By putting me in office, it will be the first step in taking the power back.”
Last August, Ruth was arrested after he tampered with red light cameras in Ronkonkoma, pointing them upward so that they could not capture violators, which he took a video of and posted on YouTube.
“I cut the cable wires, making it useless,” Ruth said, according to the report. “I’ve made it dysfunctional, just like the whole red light camera program.”
Moreover, he revealed that the cameras - used to enhance revenue collection and enrich local governments and private contractors alike - overwhelmingly tend to ticket people making legal right-on-red turns, as the cameras tend to go off unless a driver pauses for the right moment of time even after making a complete stop.
His candidacy is based around raising awareness about this issue, and if elected to reign in the practice, which has not only picked at the pockets of local residents, but fueled a rise in traffic accidents during shortened yellow lights.
