Fake Inspection Stickers Land City Man in Jail

On Monday, Jan. 9 around 2:50pm, Hector Vazquez, sporting a “chin-strap goatee” and wearing a red jacket, walked out of a residence in Bethlehem’s Marvine-Pembroke neighborhood with his 6-year-old son -- not to take a walk or shoot hoops but to transact business.

The items of interest were state vehicle inspection and emission stickers – items Vazquez, 34, had advertised on the Internet’s craigslist.com, police say. And his prospective customer was a state police trooper – posing as an interested buyer -- who was parked nearby and listened as Vazquez told him an inspection/emission sticker set would cost $150.

Vazquez’s alleged attempt to sell the stickers – with his son looking on – has landed him in Northampton County Prison, with one of the charges being endangering the welfare of children.

Information with an arrest warrant filed last week gives the following account:

On Jan. 2, the trooper got a tip about a person advertising state motor vehicle inspection and emission stickers for $150 on craigslist.com. The ad said the stickers could be purchased without getting a vehicle inspection. It also listed what turned out to be Vazquez’s phone number.

The trooper called the number around 4pm. The man on the other end said the stickers are “real” and valid until 2013. “He related that he had a lot of stickers at home and was charging $150 for a set,” the arrest information says.

The man said any meeting must be held before 4pm because that’s when he starts work. Before the call ended, the man said to call him “Hector.” He and the trooper agreed the trooper would call at a later date to arrange a meeting to make a purchase.

A week later, on Jan. 9 around 1:30pm, the trooper called Vasquez, who told him they would meet on the 1500 block of Lebanon Street, also in Marvine-Pembroke. About 20 minutes later, the trooper parked on Lebanon near Fairmount Street and called Vazquez. Five minutes later, Vazquez and his son left 1404 A. Fairmount.

Vazquez asked for a ride to Allentown to meet a person who has stickers. Father and son got into the trooper’s car. Vazquez had the trooper drive only a few blocks, saying he had to meet someone on Eastwood Road.

When Vazquez got out of the car, the boy told the trooper he was in first grade but didn’t go to school that day because he was sick. Vazquez returned 10 minutes later and said they had to go to Allentown.

The trooper said he didn’t have time to go to Allentown, but suggested they meet later in the week. Vazquez said he was doing the trooper a favor “since he [Vazquez] could get in trouble.” He also told the trooper he has illegal inspection stickers on his Acura.

The trooper agreed to call or text Vazquez for a future meeting.

The trooper discovered later that day that on April 3, 2008, Vazquez applied for a fraudulent state ID card by completing a form using the name Rafael Luis Quiles-Rivera and a date of birth of May 26, 1976. Vazquez’s actual date of birth is Dec. 22, 1977.

The arrest warrant has no information on any actual buying of stickers. It was approved Feb. 8 by of Bethlehem.

Vazquez was arraigned Friday night by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township on charges of criminal attempt, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and unsworn falsification to authorities. He was committed to the county prison after failing to post $15,000 bail.