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Sharita T. Patterson, 36, of Brooklyn was stopped in Jersey City for having a bogus temporary Georgia license tag on her car just before noon Tuesday, July 25, said Port Authority Public Information Officer Lenis Valens.
PAPD officers spotted the gun "in plain view" and seized it, Valens said.
They also seized Patterson, a single mother of three who Valens said claimed to be a New York City probation officer.
The officers then discovered that she owes $17,000 in unpaid EZ-Pass tolls, Valens said.
Patterson was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, impersonating a law enforcement officer, possession of fraudulent government documents, obstruction, theft of services and disorderly conduct.
She was sent to Hudson County Correctional Facility to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City.
As for her credentials: Patterson did receive a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Indiana Tech University this past May 13.
She dedicated the degree to "my haters (you know who you are)."
Patterson claimed she "fell out" with family members and obtained the degree while homeless and fighting four court cases, as well as "tragically" losing her boyfriend at the time.
Patterson first made headlines when her landlord accused her in March 2021 of using COVID regulations to not pay a combined $20,000 in back rent and interest -- and in doing so forcing her to live in her car.
Patterson, in turn, said she couldn't come up with all of the money but wasn't a deadbeat.
The city's Department of Social Services paid the $2,100 monthly rent for Patterson's two-bedroom apartment in Canarsie.
When that ended, she apparently began filing hardship applications blaming COVID for her inability to pay rent or move.
She also allegedly claimed at the time that she'd gotten a job in law enforcement that ended up being delayed by the pandemic.
Her landord claimed that Patterson bought herself a new car while crying poverty. Patterson said she'd gotten the 2017 Chevy Malibu a year earlier.
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