Westminster – Greg Pringle just wants his dummy back, and he promises not to use it for evil again.
Pringle and his buddies have launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign to spring Tillie, the mannequin he constructed to help him bypass rush-hour traffic on U.S. 36.
They’ve set up a website – www.freetillie.com – and are accepting donations in hopes of freeing Tillie from the evidence locker at the Westminster Police Department.
Pringle says he wants to get Tillie to put her on eBay to raise money for charity.
“It’s not a big deal,” Pringle said. “I’m not looking to make any money off of this, but maybe something good can come out of this attention.”
Pringle faces a $115 fine and a March 2 court date for using Tillie as a fake passenger in his car to get onto the highway’s high-occupancy vehicle lane.
HOV lanes are only supposed to be used for buses, motorcycles and automobiles with two or more passengers. But for years, Pringle said, he became frustrated by seeing passenger-less vehicles fly past him in the HOV lane.
“It just seemed like the cops were too busy to stop them,” Pringle said.
So Pringle spent about $10 to put together Tillie. He took a polystyrene head used in wig shops and applied lipstick and eyeliner for the full effect.
She also wore a maroon baseball cap and a gray, hooded sweatshirt pulled over her head. A coat hanger and foam balls filled out her upper body, and sweat pants stuffed with newspaper made Tillie complete.
No one gave Tillie a second look until a Westminster police officer thought she looked unusual and pulled Pringle and Tillie over last week.
Pringle said he thought Tillie fit right in to rush-hour traffic.
“You look around, and most people sitting in the cars look like they are in a trance anyway,” he said. “You couldn’t tell the passengers from the dummy.”
