Story Archive

It Tolls for Thee

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has announced success from its “aggressive new approach” to catching persistent criminals. It has caught, tried, and convicted the state’s “most egregious toll evader,” who evaded road tolls 2,264 times over a five-year span, accumulating $127,967.40 in unpaid tolls and resulting fines. “The thing that we’re after,” said the commission’s chief compliance officer, Ray Morrow, “is getting our money back.” The 36-year-old man from Bucks County pleaded guilty to theft of services, and was sentenced to probation and restitution. The judge ordered him to pay $11,504 — $3,500 down, and $275/month for three years. His name: Jarrett Stiff. (RC/Philadelphia Inquirer) ...Maybe taxpayers wouldn’t have been stiffed out of 89 percent of the damages if the Commission had acknowledged it was the public’s money, not “theirs.”