A local woman who traveled from Onondaga County to buy cigarettes in Union Springs was arrested for tax evasion after she was pulled over for running a red light, a trooper with the New York State Police said.

Gay Breed, 44, of Lysander, was driving home from Lake Side Trading convenience store in Union Springs when she turned left at a red light at the intersection of Routes 5 and 90, troopers said.

When the troopers pulled her over, they discovered that she had just purchased five boxes of untaxed cigarettes from Lake Side, a Cayuga Nation-owned business.

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said that knowingly purchasing more than two boxes of untaxed cigarettes was classified as a misdemeanor crime.

Each box contained 200 cigarettes.

But Breed's daughter, Victoria Breed, said her mother was not aware that her actions were against the law. When the officer asked to see what she had purchased, she just handed it right over without thinking anything was wrong, Victoria Breed said.

“I have just never heard of anything quite like that in my life,” she said, before adding that her mother was very shaken up after being arrested.

There is no law that would prevent the store from selling more than two boxes, Budelmann said.

And while people may not know that buying more than two boxes is tax evasion, Budelmann said they go to the trading post for the cheaper products that are not taxed.

Troopers said Breed was issued an Oct. 21 appearance ticket for Town of Aurelius Court.