Cops: Driver used cable to hide plate

NEW YORK, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Authorities said a New York truck driver used a cable rig to make his license plate "disappear" so he could drive through toll plazas without paying.

New York Port Authority officers claim truck driver Orlando Payano ran a cable from his license plate to the dashboard cigarette lighter of his truck to conceal the tags while driving through a toll plaza so he could avoid the $40 fee, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said Payano was charged with toll evasion and license plate destruction after a police officer on the New Jersey side of the Goethals Bridge saw the license plate flip up right before going through the toll booth.

He said the rear license plate was bent in such a way that partially concealed its markings, even when it was not concealed by the cable rig.

However, Payano said he might attempt to fight the charges in court. He denied having any system in place to conceal his license plate.

"I don't have any cable or anything," he said. "It's not true."

Payano said he uses an E-Z Pass tag to go through tolls.