Chronicle: Guatemalan man arrested for driving without a license

• A Guatemalan driver was arrested.
• The young man was sincere, but despite this, he ended up in prison.
• Although officer Reyes had wanted to give him a chance, he could not have done that.

A couple of months ago I presented you with a series of reports from a daytime patrol with Jonathan Reyes, an officer with the Norcross, Georgia Police Department. The officer, of Salvadoran heritage, is in charge of maintaining good relations between his department and the Hispanic community.

On the day that I accompanied the uniformed man, he behaved wonderfully with all the drivers he stopped for committing various traffic violations. He was very cordial and polite. In fact, he didn’t even give most of them tickets, just warnings. With that, Reyes earned the affection and trust of the people in his community.

When he has to act, he does

That day I asked the uniformed officer if, when he stopped a Latino who does not have a driver’s license, he puts him in jail or let him go. He told me clearly and with all sincerity that this depended on each case. He added that, personally, he chose not to be harsh with those people because he knows that if they do not have a license, it is not due to negligence or because they do not want to get it.

Unfortunately, after a long 12-hour day, on that occasion it was not possible for me to see for myself since he did not detain any immigrants for driving without a license. I had to wait for another day. Last week the day came, while Officer Reyes was patrolling the streets of Norcross, he ran into an offender. Filed As: Chronicle Guatemalan driver arrested.

The man was from Guatemala

That day, Rodelbi Orosco Velázquez, 27, tried to avoid traffic and got into the lane that is only for emergency vehicles. The chapín driver did not count on the fact that Reyes was parked very nearby inside his patrol car, looking out for drivers breaking the law.

As soon as he saw the Central American’s white car, he went after him and turned on his lights and siren. Rodelbi immediately stopped and was approached by the Salvadoran who, after introducing himself as a law enforcement officer, explained why he had stopped him. At that moment Reyes saw that Rodelbi’s window tint was darker than allowed and was not wearing his seat belt. Filed As: Chronicle Guatemalan driver arrested.

He did not have a driver’s license

When Reyes asked for his driver’s license, the young man said he didn’t have one. He did not have any other identification either, but yes, he gave his real information to the officer, who immediately returned to his unit to check it against the system.

It took Reyes less than a minute to learn that Rodelbi had been jailed twice before for driving without a license, so he had no choice but to get him out of his car and arrest him. In Georgia law he is considered a repeat offender, that is, someone who commits the same crimes over and over. Thanks for reading my story today on Mundo Now. Until next time. Filed As: Chronicle Guatemalan driver arrested.