A wooden figure wearing a sweatshirt that police said a man had in his vehicle in the HOV lane on the Long Island Expressway in Dix Hills on Feb. 27, 2015. (credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

DIX HILLS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A Long Island man was caught Friday morning driving in an HOV lane with a fake passenger in his vehicle, Suffolk County police said.

It happened on the Long Island Expressway in Dix Hills.

At around 6:30 a.m., police said Suffolk County Highway Patrol Officer Jonathan Abrams spotted a red pickup truck speeding in the westbound HOV lane near Exit 51.

When he pulled the truck over, Abrams said he saw a wooden figure wearing a hooded sweatshirt seated in the passenger seat.

“I noticed that the front seat passenger was not a person,” Abrams told 1010 WINS. “It was constructed as if it was Popsicle sticks, large Popsicle sticks. It was the shape of a torso with a head on top with the hood pulled up over the head.”