Two men held for driving without certified licenses

BY A STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND (NY) — Port Authority Police Department officers arrested two suspects who stand accused of driving without valid licenses near Staten Island bridges in two separate cases within an hour last week.

Walter Bartsch, 42, of Tompkins Avenue in Tompkinsville, and Wayne Mc Intosh, 49, of Hyattsville, Md., each face charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in separate incidents, said Joe Pentangelo, senior Port Authority Police public information officer.

At 6:10 p.m. on September 24, a Port Authority police officer in a marked auto allegedly saw Bartsch driving a blue, 2008 Honda at the intersection of Eaton Place and Innis Street under the Bayonne Bridge in Elm Park. Bartsch initially attracted the attention of the officer by using a cell phone while driving.

The officer stopped Bartsch and asked for his license and vehicle insurance paperwork. After the suspect didn’t produce his driver’s license, a computer check revealed that the suspect’s license had been suspended four times and that he had two outstanding warrants on Staten Island.

The suspect was placed under arrest and the vehicle was picked up by the owner.

Less than an hour later, Port Authority police pulled over Mc Intosh on a traffic violation of not having a front plate and also an expired registration at the Outerbridge Crossing toll plaza. He was arrested for allegedly operating his Mercury sedan with a suspended driver’s license.