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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

NY: 'Cop' looking for pizza the action

DELIVERING TICKETS: An unidentified Sanitation enforcement officer (far left, with badge on neck chain) stands beside his unauthorized undercover Papa John's Pizza car last week on the Upper East Side



















This pizza delivery car had one too many toppings!

A Sanitation police lieutenant is in trouble because he slapped Papa John's Pizza signs on his unmarked car without permission from the world-famous franchise or his superiors, The Post has learned.

The dough-brained enforcement officer, whose name is being withheld by authorities, attached one of the pizza chain's magnetic mini-billboards to the roof of his all-black, tinted-window Toyota Prius as he conducted official business.

"The signage was unauthorized. It wasn't approved by supervisors or the department," said Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis, who noted that The Post's inquiry sparked an internal investigation.

"We will interview the officer and see what was going on, and if disciplinary actions need to be taken, then it will be taken," Mellis added.

Authorities could not say why the officer decided to use the pizza-delivery ruse.

An eyewitness who alerted The Post spied the unusual undercover vehicle at 9 a.m. Thursday as the lieutenant stopped a van on Third Avenue between East 76th and East 77th streets.

On each of the hybrid sedan's front doors were two vinyl decals advertising a bogus phone number for customers to call for delivery.

The Toyota, which had blinking lights attached to its flipped-down passenger-side sun visor, is registered to the Sanitation Department's Queens Garage 4 on 58th Street in Woodside, records show.

Mellis said that the lieutenant -- spotted standing next to the Toyota in khakis and a black polo shirt with his shield dangling around his neck -- was on routine enforcement patrol when he allegedly saw the operator of the van taking recyclables placed at the curb for garbage collection. The driver was issued a summons and his vehicle was impounded, Mellis added.

While the Sanitation police use various unmarked vehicles to conduct such operations, as well as investigations into illegal dumping, Thursday's incident was the first time a private corporation's sign and logo were used on a cop's car, Mellis said.

Mellis refused to release the lieutenant's name or reveal how many years of service he has.

"Papa John's is not aware of any official relationship that our operators have with police in New York City. We are looking into this matter," said Tish Muldoon, senior director of public relations for the company.

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