Drunk, unlicensed driver caught with stolen Fort Lee minivan

ONLY ON CVP: An unlicensed driver who parked a mini-van behind a Port Authority police car in the westbound bus slip near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee had just stolen it from a nearby rental lot — and was drunk, authorities said.

Photo Credit: *Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF*

Jerry DeMarco

07/08/2014 3:04 p.m.

Port Authority Police Sgt. Christopher Terranova and Officer Jesse Turano had the 2014 Chrysler minivan pull up behind them around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the authority’s Joseph Pentangelo said.

The driver, 38-year-old Richard Lopez of Manhattan, told them he found it “parked and running with nobody in it,” they said.

Lopez “was unsteady on his feet and having trouble keeping his balance,” Pentangelo said. He then tried to run but was quickly caught, he said.

The officers took Lopez into custody after he refused a field sobriety test and a computer check turned up an active traffic warrant out of Passaic County.

Lopez was being held on $10,000 bail, charged with theft, receiving stolen property, DWI and obstruction, among other offenses.

CLIFFVIEW PILOT photo / MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

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