Nearly 10 days after being pulled over and arrested for an alleged traffic violation, authorities have dropped all charges against Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old Georgia resident.
The Dalton Police Department announced that dashcam footage showed Arias-Cristobal was not driving the vehicle that committed the traffic offense, and that the officer mistakenly stopped the wrong truck.
According to the New York Post, city officials said a vehicle similar to the one Arias-Cristobal was driving on May 5 had turned right at a red light. The officer misidentified her vehicle and initiated the stop.
Dashcam footage obtained by Fox 5 Atlanta shows the officer observing a black pickup truck make the illegal turn. After following the truck's path for several blocks, the officer instead stopped Arias-Cristobal's dark gray Dodge truck.
Once pulled over in a parking lot, Arias-Cristobal told the officer the vehicle belonged to her mother's friend whom she was helping. When the officer discovered she did not have a valid driver's license, she was arrested.
Dashcam footage also reviewed by WTVC shows the officer telling Arias-Cristobal: "So in the state of Georgia, when you drive without a license, you know what happens? You ever been to jail? Well, you're going."
At a news conference Monday, Dalton Assistant Police Chief Chris Crosser called the incident a "regrettable" mistake and confirmed an internal review is underway.
"It's a very regrettable place that we are in right now — how this unfolded and how it turned out," Crosser said.
The official added that while the department notified Arias-Cristobal's legal team of the dropped charges, it has not informed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Although the charges have been dismissed, Arias-Cristobal remains in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, according to the agency's detainee tracking system. She is being held in the same facility as her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, who was detained two weeks earlier after being stopped for driving 19 miles per hour over the speed limit.
The woman's attorney, Dustin Baxter, told the Post that she has a bond hearing scheduled for May 20. He said he will argue that Arias-Cristobal is not a flight risk or a danger to the community and should be released before her deportation hearing.
Baxter called the case "super maddening."
"We'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say there was no ill intent on the part of this police officer," he said. "It's just heartbreaking that a mistake by a police officer cost this person her freedom — and may ultimately cost her her residency in the United States."
ICE has not responded to requests for comment on whether it plans to take further action in light of the dropped charges.
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