Replica licence plates spark chain of charges for Beaverton driver

A 42-year-old Beaverton man was charged with multiple offences under the Highway Traffic Act and the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act including possessing fraudulent licence plate replicas on April 15 and 16, 2026. (SSPS)

What began as a traffic stop in Bradford unravelled into a larger investigation after fraudulent licence plates were discovered and a driver was linked to multiple incidents spanning more than a year.

The situation unfolded on April 15, along Bridge Street in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

An officer on patrol stopped a vehicle for a licence plate issue and a tinted plate cover. The driver, a 42-year-old Beaverton man, was cooperative and initially indicated the plates were legitimate.

After the stop, the man was charged under the Highway Traffic Act and the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act with operating without insurance, driving without a licence, using an unauthorized plate, failing to apply for a permit after becoming the owner and operating a vehicle without a currently validated permit.

The plates were seized and the driver’s vehicle was towed.

Police say a closer review later determined the plates were fraudulent replicas matching a plate previously registered to the vehicle’s former owner.

Driver faces more charges

Investigators say they were also able to connect the driver to a fail-to-remain crash in Durham Region in April 2025, and unpaid offence notices from January 2026 tied to a plate that no longer belonged to him.

Just three hours after the initial stop, police say the same driver returned and drove the vehicle again using plates removed from another vehicle.

The next day, the man was arrested and charged with more offences, including uttering a forged document, identity fraud and fraud under $5,000. Additional charges were also laid in relation to driving the vehicle again, along with an insurance-related charge connected to the 2025 Durham crash.

The man was released from custody and is scheduled to appear before the courts this summer.