2 drivers racked up $30K in unpaid GWB tolls, cops say

Drivers were stopped on consecutive days at the bridge this week.

FORT LEE -- Police arrested a pair of drivers this week after discovering that both had failed to pay tens of thousands in tolls between them, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.

Lucy Sanchez (PAPD)  

Around 10 a.m. Wednesday Officer Lionel Gonzalez spotted a red Toyota pass through the EZ Pass lane on the lower level of the George Washington Bridge. The driver, John P. Reynolds, 25, of Englewood, had  picked up an object and gestured to indicate it was an EZ Pass transponder and he was placing it on the windshield. Gonzalez stopped Reynolds after noticing the object was actually a cell phone.

Reynolds, who did not have a driver's license, allegedly told police he did not have an EZ Pass account either. Further investigation revealed the car had two expired EZ Pass accounts associated with it, one with 190 toll violations totalling $12,240 and a second with 115 violations and a total of $7,224 owed.

At around 9 a.m. Thursday, Gonzalez stopped a Honda on the bridge after it passed through the EZ PAss lane without the toll being paid.

The driver, 46-year-old Lucy Sanchez of North Plainfield, did not have a driver's license and had also amassed 149 EZ Pass violations totalling $9,464, police said.

John Reynolds  

Both vehicles were impounded and both Reynolds and Sanchez were charged with theft of  service and toll evasion, as well as being issued traffic summonses.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.