Thread: 2 Illegals Held After Brevard Traffic Stop

2 illegal immigrants held after Brevard traffic stop

By Laurin Sellers |
Posted June 24, 2006

PALM BAY -- Police stopped a driver for speeding early Friday on Interstate 95 and ended up arresting two men as illegal immigrants.

The driver and passenger had fake identification and no proof of their real identities, said Yvonne Martinez, a police spokeswoman who sent out a news release saying the pair would be arrested under the name "Juan Doe."

That release was quickly followed by a correction from Martinez, saying the men would be booked into the Brevard County Jail under the customary name "John Doe."

"It was a typo, a mistake," Martinez said late Friday.

The spokeswoman also said the arrests were unrelated to a proposed city ordinance that would punish employers who hire unauthorized workers.

"That has nothing to do with this," she said.

The proposed ordinance, which could be considered by the City Council next month, would impose fines of up to $200 per violation by businesses and could bar repeat offenders from working in the city.

Friday's arrests, Martinez said, came during a routine criminal interdiction on the interstate.

"Officers are out there looking for speeders and drug dealers," she said. "That truck was doing 82 mph."

Police stopped the driver of the 1998 Ford pickup about 10:30 a.m. for speeding, Martinez said. The vehicle, she said, also had reflective window tint, which is illegal in Florida.

The suspects, who could not speak English, gave officers false identification with the names Cupertino Cruz Rivera, 19, and Adan Gutierrez Zuniga, 21, she said.

A translator tried to identify them through federal immigration authorities but found no proof that they had legal standing to be in the United States, Martinez said.

Both were charged with trespassing and possession of fake identification. The driver, who used the alias Rivera, also was charged with driving without a license and a window-tint violation.

"We found ourselves in a situation where we had undocumented immigrants driving on our highways," Palm Bay police Officer Mike Veina said. Laurin Sellers can be reached

at lsellers@orlandosentinel.com

or 321-795-3251

The proposed ordinance, which could be considered by the City Council next month, would impose fines of up to $200 per violation by businesses and could bar repeat offenders from working in the city.

$200 lousy dollars? What lesson does anyone learn from such a tiny fine?

Also note that repeated violations could bar offenders from working in the city. What kind of crap is that, it should read "they will be bared," not "they could be bared." All I can say is, "the devils in the details."