Thread: Mercedes manager from Germany arrested in Alabama

The racial profiling just keeps rearing it's ugly head.

Mercedes manager from Germany arrested in Alabama

kansascity.com
The Associated Press
Posted on Fri, Nov. 18, 2011 06:23 PM

A German manager with Mercedes-Benz is free after being arrested for not having a driver's license with him under Alabama's new law targeting illegal immigrants, police said Friday.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told The Associated Press an officer stopped a rental vehicle for not having a tag Wednesday night and asked the driver for his license. The man only had a German identification card, so he was arrested and taken to police headquarters, Anderson said.

The 46-year-old executive was charged with violating the immigration law for not having proper identification, but he was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver's license from the hotel where he was staying, Anderson said.

It wasn't immediately known how long the man was in custody or the status of his court case.

The law - parts of which were put on hold amid legal challenges - requires that police check citizenship status during traffic stops and take anyone who doesn't have proper identification to a magistrate. Anderson said that's what was done, but someone in the same situation wouldn't have been arrested before the law took effect.

"If it were not for the immigration law, a person without a license in their possession wouldn't be arrested like this," he said. Previously, drivers who lacked licenses received a ticket and a court summons, according to Anderson.

Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Felyicia Jerald said the man is from Germany and was visiting Alabama on business. The company's first U.S. assembly plant is located just east of Tuscaloosa.

"This was an unfortunate situation, but the incident was resolved when our colleague ... was able to provide his driver's license and other documents to Tuscaloosa police," Jerald said.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/18/32 ... rylink=rss#ixzz1e6vkrELR

So much for "racial profiling"!!

I can't help but wonder what would happen to an American in Germany for driving under the same circumstances.

guess he just thought he could drive around the state with no identification on him. Bet after this brief visit he will always check to make sure he has his documentation.

Immigration law: Mercedes manager from Germany arrested in Alabama

al.com
By The Associated Press
Published: Friday, November 18, 2011, 6:38 PM
Updated: Friday, November 18, 2011, 7:52 PM

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — A German manager with Mercedes-Benz is free after being arrested for not having a driver's license with him under Alabama's new law targeting illegal immigrants, authorities said Friday, in an otherwise routine case that drew the attention of Gov. Robert Bentley.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told The Associated Press an officer stopped a rental vehicle for not having a tag Wednesday night and asked the driver for his license. The man only had a German identification card, so he was arrested and taken to police headquarters, Anderson said.

The 46-year-old executive was charged with violating the immigration law for not having proper identification, but he was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver's license from the hotel where he was staying, Anderson said.

The length of his detainment and the status of his court case weren't immediately known.

Mercedes-Benz, which is a division of Daimler AG, builds sport-utility vehicles at a large plant in Vance, about 20 miles east of Tuscaloosa. The automaker's decision to open a factory in Alabama in 1993 was considered a major coup for the state's economic development efforts and launched a trend of other foreign automakers and suppliers who opened major factories in the state, including Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.

Bentley, a Republican who signed the illegal immigration law earlier this year, called the state's homeland security director, Spencer Collier, after hearing of the arrest to get details about had happened, Collier said in an interview.

"Initially I didn't have them, so I called Chief Anderson to find out what happened," Collier said. "It sounds like the officer followed the statute correctly."

Collier said he didn't know how Bentley found out about the arrest, and Bentley press secretary Jennifer Ardis referred all questions to Collier.

Collier said he has made at least a dozen similar calls to law enforcement agencies that made arrests under the law to see how it is being handled, and he said his call to Anderson wasn't prompted by the fact a Mercedes executive was arrested.

"It's just to make sure they're using best practices and following the law," he said.

The law — parts of which were put on hold amid legal challenges — requires that police check citizenship status during traffic stops and take anyone who doesn't have proper identification to a magistrate. Anderson said that's what was done, but someone in the same situation wouldn't have been arrested before the law took effect.

"If it were not for the immigration law, a person without a license in their possession wouldn't be arrested like this," he said. Previously, drivers who lacked licenses received a ticket and a court summons, the police chief said.

Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Felyicia Jerald said the man is from Germany and was visiting Alabama on business. The company's first U.S. assembly plant is located just east of Tuscaloosa.

"This was an unfortunate situation, but the incident was resolved when our colleague ... was able to provide his driver's license and other documents to Tuscaloosa police," Jerald said.

The law is considered by both opponents and supporters as the toughest in the U.S. against illegal immigrants. It's being challenged in federal court by the Justice Department, about 30 civil rights organizations and some prominent church leaders. Judges have blocked some provisions, but sections still stand that allow police to check a person's immigration status during traffic stops and make it a felony for illegal immigrants to conduct basic state business, like getting a driver's license.

http://blog.al.com/wire/2011/11/immigra ... manag.html

"If it were not for the immigration law, a person without a license in their possession wouldn't be arrested like this," he said. Previously, drivers who lacked licenses received a ticket and a court summons, the police chief said.

So if I were pulled over driving through Alabama in a rental car without a DL and just showed some non-verifiable ID they'd just let me go?

Call me skeptic!

I have traveled in foreign countries many times.........I was smart enough to always carry my passport and Visas with me...... just saying

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

"If it were not for the immigration law, a person without a license in their possession wouldn't be arrested like this," he said. Previously, drivers who lacked licenses received a ticket and a court summons, the police chief said.

So if I were pulled over driving through Alabama in a rental car without a DL and just showed some non-verifiable ID they'd just let me go?

Call me skeptic!

I imagine they would impound your vehicle though. You'd be trucking... on the heel/toe express.

Mercedes exec busted by Ala. law



By TIM MAK | 11/22/11 6:30 AM EST

A German car executive is among the latest to be charged under the Alabama law targeting illegal immigrants after he was stopped by police and could not produce proper identification.

The 46-year-old Mercedes-Benz manager was stopped last week for not having a tag on his rental vehicle, the AP reports. Since he only had a German identification card, and not his passport or driver’s license, he was arrested and charged under the immigration law that some have called the strictest in the country.

The executive was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver’s license from his hotel, said Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson, according to the AP.

The case drew the attention of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, who signed the illegal immigration law earlier this year and who made inquiries about the details of the arrest.

Mercedes-Benz builds sport-utility vehicles at a manufacturing plant east of Tuscaloosa, its first assembly plant in the United States.

A Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman told the AP that the man is from Germany and was visiting the state for business purposes.

The new Alabama law, parts of which are currently on hold due to legal review, requires police and certain government officials to demand proof of legal status if they have “reasonable suspicionâ€

Mercedes-Benz Executive from Germany Arrested in Alabama Under Immigration Law




He was in the United States on business, carrying his German identification card – not a big deal, unless the place is Alabama, where that can arouse suspicion about being in the country illegally and lead to a dramatic twist.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steven Anderson told The Associated Press an officer stopped a German manager with Mercedes-Benz whose rental vehicle did not have a tag Wednesday night.

When the police officer asked the driver for his license, the man only had a German identification card, so he was arrested and taken to police headquarters, Anderson said.

The 46-year-old executive was charged with violating the immigration law for not having proper identification, but he was released after an associate retrieved his passport, visa and German driver’s license from the hotel where he was staying, Anderson said.

The length of his detainment and the status of his court case weren’t immediately known.

Mercedes-Benz, which is a division of Daimler AG, builds sport-utility vehicles at a large plant in Vance, about 20 miles east of Tuscaloosa. The automaker’s decision to open a factory in Alabama in 1993 was considered a major coup for the state’s economic development efforts and launched a trend of other foreign automakers and suppliers who opened major factories in the state, including Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.

Bentley, a Republican who signed the illegal immigration law earlier this year, called the state’s homeland security director, Spencer Collier, after hearing of the arrest to get details about had happened, Collier said in an interview.

“Initially I didn’t have them, so I called Chief Anderson to find out what happened,â€