NYC Cab Driver Tailgated Through 3000 Toll Booths, Avoided Paying More Than $28,000

A New York City cab driver has been charged by prosecutors with stealing more than $28,000 for sneaking past toll booths on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge more than 3,000 times, Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.

Rodolfo Sanchez, 69, is accused of stealing from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) by, "crossing the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Bridge and entering the Midtown Tunnel without making a toll payment on more than four thousand separate occasions by 'piggybacking' on cars directly in front of his cab between 2012 and 2014."

In order to pass the toll plaza before the gates closed, Sanchez used to tailgate other, paying drivers while they entered the bridge, the Queens District Attorney's office said.

From August 2012 to April 2014, Sanchez snuck onto the bridge and ducked a total of more than $28,240 in toll payments, according to WCBS.

"Sanchez says he did it to save money for his family. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted."

With the help of an expired E-ZPass transmitter in his cab, Sanchez was caught by investigators, the New York Times reported.

"Authorities matched the tracking data from the transmitter to video footage of taxi cabs ducking tolls and to cab company records of when Sanchez was driving," Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.

He is charged with grand larceny, theft of services and criminal possession of stolen property, according to MSNBC.

Sanchez would tailgate a vehicle in front of his cab, "thus allowing both vehicles to pass through the toll lane before the barrier came back down," District Attorney Brown said.

District Attorney Brown said, "It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty."

According to The New York Times, Sanchez, a Long Island City, Queens resident, if guilty, wouldn't be the first person to have committed this crime, but, "no single driver appeared to have ever been caught making quite so many free trips."

Sanchez was arraigned Thursday and released on bond. His next court date is May 22.

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