A Staten Island man who got rich catching drivers running red lights is a traffic scofflaw with an open arrest warrant for speeding.
John Petrozza raked in millions as an owner of American Traffic Solutions, the company that holds a $121 million contract to operate red-light cameras in New York City and another multimillion-dollar deal to do the same in Long Island.
While Petrozza’s company helps trap reckless motorists, over the years he has racked up more than a dozen moving violations, DWI arrests and license suspensions and revocations in three states.
He’s also a deadbeat who owes a $4 million court judgment and more than $1 million in unpaid taxes, a Post investigation found.
“He tries to skirt the law at every opportunity,” said Jason Franzen, Petrozza’s stepson, who was stiffed by Petrozza in a court battle over his mother’s estate.
Petrozza, a 51-year-old who lives in a $1 million house in the Richmondtown neighborhood, had 15 traffic violations, suspensions and revocations in the last three years in New York alone. The tally includes a drunk-driving charge from October and a 2012 conviction for driving under the influence.
Maryland police twice caught Petrozza speeding, including in 2013 when he was clocked going 84 mph in a 65-mph zone.
Arizona authorities issued an arrest warrant against Petrozza in 2010 — which is still open — after he blew off a speeding charge in that state.
He failed to disclose the pending arrest in his 2013 state Liquor Authority application to open his Tiki Island bar on Staten Island, SLA documents show.
He’s also No. 58 on the list of the 250 worst tax offenders in New York with a $1.6 million lien for unpaid 2012 state income tax. The IRS also issued a lien against him in 2013 for $754,494 in federal taxes, which he paid in 2014.
Petrozza defaulted on the mortgage for his Staten Island home. Wells Fargo started foreclosure proceedings in October 2014.
“I guess traffic cameras aren’t as profitable as people make them out to be,” Petrozza told The Post.
But his Facebook pages show him living the good life with dinners in the Hamptons and outings on his boat. Last week a red Lamborghini was seen parked in his driveway.
He has a separate “Club Petrozza” Facebook page featuring photos of a basement bar in his home and scantily-clad women dirty dancing there around a stripper pole.
Petrozza told The Post that he lives primarily with his girlfriend and young daughter in Maryland and paid his taxes there.
“I’m arguing with New York because they have it wrong,” he said.
He also insisted his traffic violations were rectified and he had his driver’s license back. He said the foreclosure was settled and pleaded ignorance about the Arizona warrant. “Thank you for pointing it out to me,” he said.
Additional reporting by Stephanie Pagones
