Girl Arrested for Driving With a Stolen Plate, After Blaming her Brother

Around 3:54 PM on March 13, 2025, Officer Alim Djemilev with the Ewing Township Police Department was stationed in front of Antheil Elementary School at 339 Ewingville Road. His patrol car received an alert from the automated license plate reader regarding a stolen license plate. He then broadcast his location to police dispatch and began following the suspect vehicle. He eventually identified the suspect vehicle as a black 2008 Volkswagen Jetta, and the driver made a right turn onto Green Lane towards Pennington Road. Following the right turn, the driver made a left turn onto Spring Valley Lane and a right turn onto Blue Grass Drive.

Around this time, police dispatch confirmed that the license plate on the Volkswagen had previously been reported stolen from a 2012 Toyota Tacoma. The theft had been reported to The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Police Department on February 23, 2025. Officer Djemilev activated his emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop, and the driver pulled over. The driver was eventually identified as 22-year-old Lily Menchaca.

Lily told the officer that she was headed back home after leaving work at the Volkswagen dealership in Princeton. She claimed that she needed a plate, and her brother gave her the plate to put on her vehicle. Lily told the officers that her father had removed the plates from the car because he was mad at Lily. Lily then admitted to putting the false plate on the vehicle so that she could drive.

Officer Djemilev provided the VIN number to police dispatch, and they confirmed that the vehicle was indeed registered to Michael Menchaca. After confirming this information, Lily was placed under arrest for receiving stolen property (2C:20-7A). He transported her to the Ewing Township Police Department for further processing. The vehicle was towed from the scene to be impounded until the owner could prove that he had valid license plates associated with the vehicle.

At the station, Lily was photographed, fingerprinted, and released pending her court appearance. In addition to the criminal summons for receiving stolen property (2C:20-7A), she was issued a traffic citation for Driving without a license (39:3-10B).

Court records indicate that on July 2, 2025, the criminal charge of receiving stolen property was dismissed. However, she did plead guilty to driving without a license. As a result of her guilty plea, Lily’s license was revoked for 6 months and she had to pay a total of $240 in fines.

Lily had previously received citations for fictitious plates (39:3-33A), failure to possess driver insurance card (39:3-29C), driving an unregistered motor vehicle (39:3-4), and driving without a license (39:3-10) on July 21, 2024.
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