A truck driver was caught by police flipping down his license plate as he went through a toll booth at the George Washington Bridge Saturday, part of a scheme to evade a $65 toll.
Nelson Vaquiz allegedly pulled a cord from inside his truck that made his license plate disappear just as he went under the E-Z Pass toll camera at the booth, according to the New York Post.
Nearby, a Port Authority police officer observed the plate trick and alterted his colleagues, according to the Post.
Vaquiz, a 36-year-old self-employed truck driver from Virginia, was pulled over and charged with theft of service, possession of burglar tools and eluding. His tractor-trailer was impounded, the Post said.
A source told the Post that Vaquiz fashioned the system with a wire cable that made his front Virginia license plate go up and down. It allowed him to pass through E-Z Pass lanes at toll booths but not get fined, and he had his back plate bent up so that it couldn't be read by cameras, the Post said.
The cash-strapped Port Authority told the Post that the agency lost $14 million to toll cheats in 2009 and 2010.
