Rockets star Patrick Beverley arrested over unpaid $321 toll road fine
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley was expected to return to the lineup Wednesday night after missing a couple of games with an injury. But he wasn't at practice Wednesday morning, after being arrested on an open warrant.
Beverly was arrested along Beltway 8 at Telephone Road in Pearland for something you may be guilty of, too.
"Pay your toll at the time of day, and if you receive an invoice, don't ignore it," said Mary Benton with the Harris County Toll Road Authority.
Like many of us, Beverly has an EZ Tag, He may not have even realized his account was expired when he went through the EZ Tag-only lane back in February. He got a violation in the mail, which he didn't pay within ten days.
So when Beverly was pulled over on a traffic stop Wednesday morning, the warrant popped up. Beverley owed $321 and he was taken into custody until he paid the fine.
Video: Beverley takes arrest in stride, says he should be 'EZ Tag' spokesman.
"We have equipment that can read your license plate and will send information that a prohibited vehicle is on the toll road," said Benton.
And while it's pretty hard to hide from the toll road cameras, there are thousands of drivers who are taking their chances with unpaid violations. According to the Harris County Toll Road Authority, somewhere around 30,000 cars are prohibited on the toll roads every year.
In the past year, about 20 percent have been issued citations. And when you talk about arrests, only 21 of them -- less than one percent -- are ever arrested.
The Houston Rockets released this statement: "Patrick Beverley missed shoot-around this morning to resolve issues related to his vehicle registration and EZ Tag pass. Those issues have been resolved and the team considers the matter closed. Beverley is available to play against the Nets this evening."
