Poppy Gets Popped!

new york daily news

Article thanks to Jack Kemp of the New York Daily News. Link to their site below:

Scofflaw trucker suspected of owing up to $25,000 in tolls nabbed on Staten Island
Poppy got popped! A truck driver suspected of owing up to $25,000 in unpaid tolls was collared in Staten Island after he cruised through yet another toll plaza without paying, officials said Wednesday.
Benjamin McClellan, 46, was pulled over after an eagle-eyed Port Authority cop spotted his rig — which has the signature “Poppy” scrawled on the front bumper — zipping past a Goethals Bridge toll about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, officials said.
The officer, Edward Benenati — who has pulled McClellan over a handful of times before — saw the 2000 Frieghtliner just before it approached the toll, officials said.
Benenati did a quick background check and learned McClellan, of Laurelton, Queens, had a suspended license for not paying a traffic ticket, sources said.
The truck driver, who was hauling a load of lumber on a flatbed trailer, then zipped through the toll plaza without paying the fare — which would have cost him about $65, officials said.
Benenati pulled the truck over and saw that McClellan had changed his license plate numbers with short lengths of electrical tape, officials said.
The cop also found an E-ZPass transponder inside the cab of the truck. The device was traced to a stolen device from a trucking company, sources said.
“(McClellan) cops out and tells (Benenati) he bought it at a Queens gas station for $150,” a source said.
The transponder, which McClellan bought in May 2011, was reported stolen six months later and disconnected, the sources said.
“He got quite a bit of use out of it,” the source said.
Officials estimate that McClellan owes up to $25,000 in unpaid tolls across the five boroughs.
But all of McClellan’s tricks seemed to fall apart as he was cuffed and taken into custody. He was later booked on a slew of charges that include theft of services, obstructing governmental administration and driving without a license.
He was waiting to be arraigned on Wednesday afternoon. 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/scofflaw-trucker-suspected-owing-25-000-tolls-nabbed-staten-island-article-1.1147110#ixzz25Kk8PhWg