A 43-year-old man from Guatemala was arrested after a deputy caught him driving without a license.
Wilmer Estuardo Velasquez Gonzales, who lists a Summerfield address, was at the wheel of a white 2024 Chevrolet Silverado at about 10:45 a.m. June 20 when he was pulled over in the parking lot of the ALDI grocery store on U.S. Hwy. 441.
According to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy had spotted the pickup truck leaving a nearby Chase Bank and ran the license plate. The inquiry revealed that the registered owner of the vehicle had a suspended driver’s license, prompting an investigative traffic stop.
During the stop, the deputy realized Velasquez Gonzales was not the vehicle’s registered owner. When asked for his driver’s license, Velasquez Gonzales admitted he did not have one and handed the deputy a Guatemalan identification card. He told the deputy he was the only person in the vehicle and had just been driving it “for a little bit” to withdraw money from the bank.
A dispatcher confirmed Velasquez Gonzales has never been issued a valid driver’s license in any of the 50 U.S. states. The report also noted that a criminal history check yielded negative results, likely due to his immigration status and a lack of identifying information in the databases.
Velasquez Gonzales was issued a traffic citation and arrested on a misdemeanor charge of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $1,00 bond.