Illinois Highway Cheats Owe $80K in Unpaid Tolls
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The former owners of an Illinois taxi cab owe the Illinois Tollway $80,571 for unpaid tolls dating back to 2003, the Chicago Sun Times reported Monday.
According to the report, Andrea Zemankova and her ex-boyfriend, Marcel Medek, wracked up their hefty highway bill by crossing toll plazas without paying 1,114 times, during a two year period when they co-owned the taxi.
The couple is no longer together and Zemankova said Medek, with whom she hasn't spoken in two years, was the driver.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I don't think I owe them anything," Zemankova told the Sun Times.
Together or not, the couple shared ownership of the taxi and are therefore both held responsible for the charges. They also now share the distinction of being the Tollway's worst offenders—no small feat considering that the Tollway's 50 top evaders owe the agency $2.2 million in fines and missed tolls, the Sun-Times reported.
Click here for more on this story at the Chicago Sun Times.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}For years, according to the Sun-Times, a paperwork backlog at the Tollway allowed toll cheats to get away with their highway robbery. But now that the Tollway is catching up, offenders are looking at bills bloated with fees, fines and penalties.
Had Zemankova and Medek paid the tolls at the time, the cost would have been less than one dollar per toll in most cases. They now owe the Tollway more than $70 per missed toll.
Click here for a list of Illinois Tollway's top ten Violators and the amounts they owe.