A Silver Springs woman identified as a habitual traffic offender was arrested Tuesday afternoon after she was caught driving on a suspended license.
Dorthy Jo Ritch, 47, of Silver Springs was driving a blue Dodge van westbound on East Highway 40 and pulled into a gas station when a Marion County police officer recognized her while observing traffic in the 16900 block of East Highway 40 during a routine patrol, according to an MCSO arrest affidavit. The police officer was aware that Ritch did not have a valid driver’s license and conducted a computer check of Rich’s driver’s license status, which revealed it was suspended as of March 4, 2010 for failure to pay a court financial obligation. Records showed that Ritch’s driver license was suspended numerous times, with the most recent suspension on Sept. 15, 2015 for a controlled substance violation, the affidavit stated.
Ritch began traveling westbound on East Highway 40 and turned into the Dollar General when the officer conducted a traffic stop on her vehicle. Ritch told the officer she was pulling into the store “because she was having issues with her vehicle overheating” and that she was just “trying to go to the dollar store,” according to the report.
Ritch was placed under arrest for driving while license suspended and transported to Marion County Jail. Bond was set at $1000.
