An unlicensed driver from Nicaragua wound up behind bars when she was caught speeding on a busy thoroughfare in The Villages.
An officer observed the driver of a white Ford pickup truck, later identified as 21-year-old Anabel Francheska Benavides-Soza, speeding northbound on Meggison Road at the Village of St. Johns around 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. She was traveling at 50 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone.
The officer stopped the truck and asked Benavides-Soza for her driver’s license and paperwork. She indicated that she did not speak English, so he asked her to write her name on a note pad. She wrote “Anabel Soza,” which was not on file, the report said.
The officer then located a purse on the passenger’s seat and found a California identification card inside. The officer confirmed that Benavides-Soza has never obtained a driver’s license in the United States.
Benavides-Soza was arrested on charge of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. She was also issued a citation for speeding. She was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $150 bond.