Infamous NYC activist Scott LoBaido admits he used flowers to block speed cameras: Im the Beautification Squad

Notorious Staten Island artist and activist Scott LoBaido appeared in court Monday, accused of blocking speed cameras with bouquets of fake flowers in his latest vigilante stunt, prosecutors said. LoBaido, 59, was arraigned on charges of second-degree obstructing governmental administration and third-degree criminal tampering – both misdemeanors – for allegedly impeding the devices with floral arrangements on two different dates this year, according to the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office. “The Beautification Squad is me,” LoBaido confessed to a detective, according to a criminal complaint.“I’m the Beautification Squad.”LoBaido is accused of attaching the flowers to the top of a pole at Richmond Avenue and Oakdale Street on Jan.

14, as well at Van Duzer Street and Maxie Court on Feb.4, according to the court doc. An employee of Verra Mobility, which maintains the cameras, told police that the blossoming blockade prevented the cameras from recording the street – in effect preventing them from catching speed violators. In both cases, LoBaido was joined by another person, who he simply described to investigators as his pal who chauffeured and photographed him. “He didn’t know what I was doing,” LoBaido said, according to the complaint. During his Monday arraignment, LoBaido was granted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, prosecutors said. LoBaido, flanked by his attorney Mark Fonte, held a press conference after the court hearing.“I had to admit that I was putting up these flowers as a beautification public arts statement — what I am famous for — because these ugly things on these poles were apparently cameras and I was putting these flowers up to beautify the community,“ LoBaido told reporters, according to The Staten Island Advance.Fonte hailed his client as “a national treasure and an American hero,” the paper reported. “Ninety nine percent of Staten Islanders know those speed cameras are money-grab c...