Is saving over $1,000 on tolls worth the risk of prison? Would you expect this from a cop?

Jeffrey Veloz is a 27-year-old Bayonne police officer who is charged with one count of fourth-degree grand larceny and 81 counts of petit larceny. The charges are in New York State where that fourth-degree count could cost him four years in prison.

All over alleged toll cheating.

According to the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, Veloz was caught 81 times evading tolls through methods using spy-type devices straight out of a Bond film. Authorities say the incidents occurred between June 2021 to August 2022.

The D.A.’s office says he used a “mechanical plate curtain device” 38 times. A “dark plate diffuser” 14 times. Simply having no license plate on a Dodge Ram truck 25 times. Also no license plate on a motorcycle 4 times.

The Bayonne officer was suspended from his $74,000 a year job on August 12 according to nj.com.

All of this is alleged to have occurred at the Bayonne Bridge where the toll for those who don’t have EZPass is $16. Which brings me to my point.

When a driver is accused of cheating a toll, my guess is the public is so fed up with the endless hikes and bloated budgets of top-heavy toll authorities that it secretly wants to root for these renegades. We know it’s wrong. Some may feel if they complied with tolls everyone should be compliant.

Yet I wonder if a case like this went to the court how many on a panel might want to opt for a little jury nullification? Sure, it’s criminal.

But doesn’t charging $16 to cross a bridge one time feel a bit criminal too?

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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