(A) No official or employee of the state, any political subdivision thereof, any county municipality, local authority, and no owner or employee of any new vehicle dealer, used vehicle dealer, or vehicle auctioneer shall sell, trade, or otherwise dispose of any motor vehicle bearing equipment, markings, or other indicia of police authority unless, prior to delivery of the vehicle, the equipment and markings have been sufficiently altered or obliterated to remove the appearance of police authority.
(B) A person may not operate on the highways of this state a vehicle bearing the equipment, markings, or other indicia of police authority, unless the vehicle is an authorized emergency vehicle as defined by ILCS Ch. 625, Act 5, § 1-105.
(C) This section does not apply to vehicles bearing indicia of police authority that are antique vehicles, as defined in ILCS Ch. 625, Act 5, § 1-102.1, and are registered as antique vehicles, as provided in ILCS Ch. 625, Act 5, § 3-804.
(D) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a manufacturer of authorized emergency vehicle equipment, markings, or other indicia, or the manufacturer’s representative or authorized vendor, from temporarily mounting the equipment, markings, or other indicia on a vehicle for demonstration purposes only. If the equipment, markings, or other indicia are not covered while the vehicle is operated upon a highway, the vehicle shall display signage indicating that the vehicle is out of service or not an emergency vehicle. The signage shall be displayed on all sides of the vehicle in letters at least two inches tall and one-half inch wide.
(E) Any police officer is authorized to seize any vehicle that is in violation of this section and to impound that vehicle, at the owner’s expense, until any equipment, markings, or other indicia of police authority have been sufficiently removed, altered, or obliterated to remove the appearance of police authority.
(F) A person convicted of violating this section is guilty of a petty offense and subject to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000.
(ILCS Ch. 625, Act 5, § 12-609) Penalty, see § 70.999