WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A man, who the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said is undocumented, was previously cited for driving without a license, according to court records.
Andres Felipe Morales is one of three men facing charges after the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office said he along with two other men kidnapped a woman and she was sexually battered by him. The sheriff's office said the other two men are facing charges related to the sexual battery, Darinel Ordonez Jimenez and Marcos Felipe Ramirez, and also are undocumented.
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According to court records, a woman was walking to an Orion gas station on Second Avenue. Then, records say a white pickup truck with metal poles approached the woman before a man grabbed her from behind, put her in a chokehold and dragged her into the pick-up truck.
According to the detective from the sheriff's office, the group went to two locations before she escaped near Lake Osborne.
According to the sheriff's office, the three men facing charges related to the event are from Guatemala.
Court records also show Morales was cited for driving without a license by the Palm Springs Police Department in January. WPTV reached out to the department late Wednesday about its policy for checking immigration status if a driver has never been issued a driver's license. We didn't receive a statement by publication.
Court records show the citation was “Nolle Prose," meaning the state attorney abandoned the charges. Court documents show the state agreed to abandon prosecution if the defendant provided or showed proof of paying $100 and obtaining a driver’s license, which is illegal for undocumented individuals. The charges were dropped after he paid $100 and successfully completed a diversion program.
Marc Freeman, who is a spokesperson for the State Attorney's Office in Palm Beach County, said the office wasn't aware of the man being undocumented and doesn't check for people it prosecutes.
Richard Hujber, who is an immigration attorney, said most law enforcement agencies don't regularly check immigration when they pull over drivers for traffic violations. He said the policy can differ by law enforcement agency, but it's usually a federal issue.
"The local police generally speaking look at immigration matter as a federal matter," Hujber said. "It's not generally within their jurisdiction to see if somebody is here with immigration status because there are so many levels of immigration status."
He said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement performs checks once somebody is within custody like a jail. But a department could lose resources quickly for arresting people without a driver's license because it would have to apply the law equally to all people rather than just people suspected of being undocumented.
"I don't think there's anywhere near the resources," Hujber said. “Especially after COVID (-19) where they started releasing and issue of spaces, etc. They don’t have the resources to hold people based on a traffic ticket."
He said departments could and have faced challenges in court for selectively arresting people suspicious of being undocumented individuals.