STATEN ISLAND — A truck driver was arrested after trying to avoid a Staten Island toll by bending his license place, the Port Authority Police Department said.
Melvin Ralph, 44, of Melville, N.J., was driving a white tractor trailer from Elizabeth, N.J., to Staten Island over the Goethals Bridge Wednesday when Port Authority Police Officer Ed Benenati spotted that the license plate had been bent, according to the Port Authority.
Benenati pulled Ralph over and found his license was suspended and he owed more than $13,600 in unpaid tolls and penalties, with 71 of the violations on Staten Island crossings, the Port Authority said.
Ralph was arrested and charged with petit larceny and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, according to the Port Authority. His vehicle was also impounded.
He pleaded guilty to the larceny charge and was ordered to pay a fine at his Thursday arraignment, according to online court records.
