‘Pay Toll Now!’ PA eyes $25K scofflaw
It’s time to pay the toll, troll. That’s the message that the Port Authority is sending to one New Jersey scofflaw, who racked up an impressive $25,000 in unpaid tolls over a four-year period, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court this week.
The suit claims that Cumberland County resident Jose Guzman owes $25,407 in unpaid fees and administrative costs racked up while crossing into New York City between December 2015 and December 2019.
On top of that, the Port Authority — which controls the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, Outerbridge Crossing and the George Washington, Goethals and Bayonne bridges — is asking for an additional $5,255 in interest, bringing the total to more than $30,000.
If Guzman was driving a regular passenger car, that means he averaged more than 400 unpaid crossings a year in the roughly 2½ -hour trip each way from Vineland.
The bridge and tunnel agency has actually been after Guzman since 2020, filing legal action due to “toll evasion, theft of services, trespass, fraud, and negligence for unpaid tolls,” and successfully won a lower civil court judgment against him in 2023.
In those proceedings, the agency asked Guzman’s bank to restrain over $24,000 in his bank account. The current suit seeks to force the bank to turn over the debt in full.
“No part of which has been paid or satisfied,” the suit reads.
Representatives for the Port Authority or their lawyers were unavailable to comment Friday.
Federal trucking records show that Guzman owns a small motor carrier business, which means his toll amounts per trip might be higher than the typical $15 levied during the time period covered by the suit, though exact details of his supposed fleet were not immediately available.
Guzman couldn’t be reached for comment.
Out of touch
One relative told The Post that the family has not been in touch with Guzman for years, but confirmed that he has at least one vehicle in a trucking business.
“It’s probably been years,” the relative said, adding that Guzman’s past legal trouble led the family, including his two children, to cut ties entirely.
“We parted ways,” she said, “but then to still deal with the drama, even though we don’t even talk to him, is kind of more frustrating in itself.
“You do something, you always pay for it eventually.”