Mass Pike Toll Collector Suspended For Handing Out 'I Can't Breathe' Ticket

WESTON (CBS) – A toll collector has been suspended without pay after a driver reported receiving a toll ticket with an anti-police message written on it.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation confirmed that earlier this week a driver contacted them and said that while entering the Mass Pike westbound in Weston, he received a toll ticket that said "#ican'tbreathe," a phrase used to protest the death of Eric Garner in New York City.

Garner died after being placed in a chokehold by a New York City police officer. He told officers several times "I can't breathe" as he was pinned to the ground.

The Mass Pike ticket also had a note using profanity to express "disdain for 'the law,'" according to MassDOT.

MassDOT officials obtained the ticket from the driver and questioned the toll collector about the incident. The employee said the ticket was handed out by accident and added that it was the only one given out with writing on it.

The toll collector was suspended without pay and will participate in a hearing in the near future to determine if any further disciplinary action will take place, MassDOT added.

"We expect our employees to adhere to the highest professional standards," MassDOT said in a statement. "And this situation was in violation of that expectation."

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