MCCLELLAN
Free ride is over.
BUMPER SNEAKER: A Port Authority investigator examines a truck license plate allegedly altered by Benjamin McClellan in order to use E-ZPass lanes without paying. (
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A trucker driving with a suspended license used a stolen E-ZPass and then a doctored license plate to evade some $25,000 in tolls in his big rig, authorities charged yesterday.
Benjamin McClellan, 46, allegedly beat the tolls two ways.
Starting in April 2011, he used the stolen pass to make near-daily trips, toting lumber over the Goethals Bridge, which connects Staten Island and Elizabeth, NJ, cops said.
That saved him $65 per round trip, they said.
He told cops he bought the pass for $150 at a gas station, a law-enforcement source said.
After six months of being scammed, officials at the company that owned the pass noticed the extra charges and had the device deactivated.
So McClellan allegedly went to Plan B.
He used electric tape to doctor his license plates, adding strips to create two letters and change numbers, the source said.
When Port Authority cops tried to track down the ghost trucker riding through the E-ZPass lane, they found themselves looking for a nonexistent license plate.
But police cameras had caught an image of the toll-beating truck.
His free ride came to an end at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday
PA Officer Edward Benenati spotted the truck going through the Goethals toll plaza.
When he got closer, he recognized the driver, because he had issued summons to him before.
Benenati performed a quick check and found McClellan’s license had been suspended.
Then the cop found the stolen E-ZPass in the cab, according to the source.
McClellan, of Queens, was released without bail at his arraignment in Staten Island Criminal Court.