South Jersey Man Skipped Toll 224 Times In Girlfriend's Car: PD

A South Jersey man was charged with skipping bridge tolls 224 times in his girlfriend's car, according to court documents released this week.

A judge ruled this week that he can be charged with theft, and declined Daniel Marks's request to throw out an indictment because, he argued, it didn't meet the standards of the charge.

Police made the discovery after getting information that a 2011 grey Hyundai repeatedly evaded tolls while crossing the Benjamin Franklin and Walt Whitman bridges, according to court documents.

Marks, of Gloucester City, drove his girlfriend's car through the EZ-Pass Only lanes without having a valid EZ-Pass transponder, according to the court documents.

Police were provided with a log of each violation as well as images and the license plate number of the vehicle, according to the court documents.

A review of the logs showed that between May 2, 2016, and November 15, 2016, the vehicle made 220 crossings of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and four crossings of the Walt Whitman Bridge without paying the $5 toll. The total amount of unpaid tolls was $1,120. Administrative fees totaled $5,600.

Notices of each violation were mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle, but she failed to respond to the notices, according to the court documents.

Police contacted the owner who advised them that her boyfriend, Marks, was the operator of the motor vehicle at the time of these violations, according to the court documents.

Marks later contacted police and admitted that he was responsible for all of the violations.

Marks subsequently surrendered himself to police and provided a recorded statement in which he admitted that he was responsible for each and every toll evasion, that he knew he was required to pay a $5 toll, and that he intentionally drove through the EZ-Pass lane to avoid paying the toll.

He also admitted that he received a violation notice for each violation and ignored the notices, according to the court documents.