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LIMO DRIVER BEAT TOLLS

LIMO DRIVER BEAT TOLLS

Jersey Journal * October 2, 2009

BAYONNE, NJ -- A Bayonne limo driver who sailed through Port Authority and state toll booths without paying a staggering 2,890 times and ended up owing $91,600 in tolls and fees was arrested last month, the State Police said.

Sari Ahmet, 32, of New Bay Court in Bayonne, was arrested on Aug. 26 after turning himself in to the State Police in Newark following a phone call from detectives, said State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones.

Ahmet, who was charged by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, had racked up $3,800 in unpaid tolls to the Turnpike Authority, which includes the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, with an additional $70,000 in administration fees, officials said.

Ahmet, who was running a car service and was enrolled in the E-Z Pass system but did not have a transponder in his car, also racked up 539 toll violations with the Port Authority, owing $4,300 in toll fees and $13,500 in administrative fees, officials said.

Jones said that Ahmet was caught on camera driving his 2003 Lincoln Towne Car limousine through toll roads and bridges and tunnels.

"People think they are going to save a few dollars cheating on tolls, but in the end they owe much more and possibly end up with a criminal records," Jones said.

Between August 2008 and July 2009 there were 700 million toll transactions on the Turnpike and Parkway, one of the most heavy trafficked roads in the country, but deadbeat drivers cost the system $13.6 million in unpaid tolls and violations, officials said.

State officials said the rate of uncollected tolls in New Jersey is 1.8 percent; the national average is 2.2 percent.

Jones said the worst offenders, like Ahmet, are referred to the State Police for prosecutions.

"Ninety-eight percent of the population is paying tolls and doing the right thing. That is why we have a special reason going after the other 2 percent," said New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesman Joe Orlando.

After his arrest Ahmet was being held on $5,000 bail at Middlesex County jail, Jones said.

Both the Port Authority and the Turnpike Authority charge a $25 administration fee for a toll violation. The Port Authority plans to hike its fees to $50 per violation in November.

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