Seen At 11

N.J. Cops Employ A Little 'Crosswalk Justice'

Undercover Sting Reveals 70 Percent Of Essex County Drivers Refused To Stop For Pedestrian Crossing Street

Shocked Drivers Cry Entrapment After Getting $100 Tickets

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (CBS) ― Dozens of New Jersey drivers who thought they did nothing wrong got slapped with pricey tickets on Thursday. Their crime? They failed to yield to a pedestrian who was actually an undercover cop.

It turns out crossing the street is a tough task that should be so simple.

"It's impossible to cross the street these days," said Det. Frank Ricci of the Essex County prosecutor's office.

Drivers are required by law to yield to pedestrians. Ricci was working undercover at the corner of West Fairview and Irvington Avenue. He crossed the street again and again for four hours. Incredibly, 70 percent of the drivers did not stop.

"I'm waving my hand looking at them and they go around me," Ricci said of the hundreds of cars he came in contact with. "Imagine the old lady or the child trying to cross the street."

Ricci's partner, Det. Vincent Nardone, was down the street radioing in license plate info to cops one block away.

So when a Chevy Malibu zipped by driver Almaz Atnafe was slapped with a $100 ticket.

When asked what he was supposed to do at the cross walk, defeated Atnafe admitted, "I was supposed to stop."

In the case of driver Michael Zhou of Ivy Hill it was a double whammy. Police said not only did he fail to stop for the pedestrian he also did something else wrong.

"I guess I forget to wear the seatbelt," Zhou said. "He was in the middle of the street. Yeah I was in a hurry."

His ticket was $180. He calls it entrapment, but vehicular homicide Det. Arnold Anderson calls it fair.

"It averages 20-25 people are killed each year in Essex County just crossing the street," Anderson told CBS 2 HD.

He said this kind of police work is working to get people's attention, and drive down that death toll.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---