Government

NEARBY: Toll Bridge Commission Releases Video Footage Of Toll Evasion

The commissioner is warning people not to violate the law.


The incident unfolding.
Credit: DRJTBC

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) released video footage on Wednesday of a New Jersey man who attempted to evade toll charges at the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge in March.

The man – identified as Ronnie Melendez, 36, Ewing, New Jersey – was caught on camera covering his vehicle’s license plates before passing through the all-electronic toll-collection gantry into Lower Makefield Township.

Security personnel from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission recorded Melendez’s roadside license-plate covering actions and forwarded the license information and film footage to Pennsylvania State Police.

Melendez was tracked down and subsequently pleaded guilty to obscuring license plates. He paid $229.10 in fines and other assessments this month.

If Melendez had crossed the bridge without obscuring his license plates, he would have been mailed a TOLL-BY-PLATE invoice for $3, while an E-ZPass toll would have been $1.25, the commission said in statement.

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission in Lower Makefield.
Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com

In another toll-evader development, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission received $61,883.43 from the TEV Corporation, a Newark, New Jersey trucking firm named in a series of 2018 lawsuits filed against 20 trucking companies for evading tolls.

The TEV payment consisted of $22,364.85 in unpaid tolls and $39,518.58 in violation fees, the commission said.

The commission has now collected more than $123,000 in unpaid tolls and fees from trucking firms cited in the 2018 lawsuits.

“We intend to use every tool at our disposal to enforce compliance at our toll-collection points along the Delaware River. We are committed to ensuring everyone pays the tolls that are due because honest toll-paying customers shouldn’t be subsidizing the few who think they can cheat the system,” Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission Executive Director Joe Resta stated.


About the author

Alex Irving

Alex Irving is a freelance journalist based in Bucks County. They have been reporting on local news since 2022.
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