Earlier this week, New Jersey police arrested two men who had reportedly schemed to avoid paying EZ Pass Tolls.
On Tuesday, 37-year-old Francisco D. Reyes-Rodriguez was headed from New Jersey to New York on them George Washington Bridge in a red tractor-trailer.
Palm Beach Post reported that when the trailer went through the EZ pass lane, a “toll unpaid” indicator was noticed by police.
Francisco D. Reyes-Rodriguez was then pulled over by Port Authority Police.
Reyes- Rodriguez of New London, Connecticut, presented to police a Florida registration and a Connecticut driver’s license.
Police immediately noticed that the front license plate of the vehicle was made from plastic and his insurance card was fraudulent.
Police also realized that the VIN had been removed from the truck and replaced with a fake one, and there was no EZ Pass to pay tolls.
In total, the truck owed over $6,000 of unpaid tolls.
Police discovered that 36-year-old Jean Lafortune Jr. of Lake Worth, Florida, was the truck’s owner.
After Reyes-Rodriguez had been arrested, Lafortune was called by police to collect his truck. However, upon his arrival, police noticed that he was driving a truck with the same license plate number and VIN as the truck driven by Reyes-Rodriguez.
Lafortune admitted to police that he had altered the VIN numbers and license plates to avoid paying tolls.
Port Authority police stated that the two men face charges of theft of service, counterfeit license plate, toll evasion and additional traffic violations.
Police impounded the two vehicles.
The U.S. Department of Transportation stated that Lafortune used to operate the company Lafortune Trucking out of Lake Worth, but it has not been active since December 2014. Neither truck was carrying any cargo at the time.
The toll on the George Washington Bridge is $105 for a 5-axle truck.