He claimed diplomatic immunity as cops arrested him in his $200K car. That didn’t fly
After a woman was released from a Miami-Dade County jail over driving with a fake diplomatic tag, Sunny Isles Beach cops said they arrested her driver on Wednesday for the same offense — this time drawing their guns.
Andres Lopez-Escobar, 22, was driving a 2022 Mercedes-Benz Maybach — a car that sells for nearly $200,000 — in the 300 block of Sunny Isles Boulevard around 1:30 p.m. when officers spotted its counterfeit diplomatic license plate, according to his arrest report. With him was 32-year-old Ceceilia Selina Mercado, who had been released earlier Wednesday from jail on a $2,500 bond after claiming she had diplomatic immunity and an officer yanked her from an Audi.
It turns out she did not have diplomatic immunity; rather, she says she is an “American State National,” an ideology whose followers, some of whom are Qnon adherents, claim they’re not citizens of a government they perceive as illegitimate, according to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that tracks extremist groups.
“I’m an American State National,” Mercado told Local 10 after leaving jail. In an Instagram story, the New York-born singer — stage name Sessi — said the officer who pulled her out of the 2014 white Audi she was driving “was out of line.”
Followers of this movement falsely believe they are exempted from the jurisdiction of all U.S. laws, which they interpret as interfering with their lives, according to police1.com, a law enforcement website. ASN leaders teach that acquiring a “non-national citizen” U.S. passport, which they believe officially recognizes their status by the federal government, grants them diplomatic immunity, the website says.
READ MORE: Driver arrested in viral video says she is an ‘American State National.’ What is that?
Like the Audi Mercado was driving Tuesday, Lopez-Escobar’s Mercedes-Benz had a tag that stated the car belonged to a “diplomat” and an “ambassador-at-large,” police said. Both tags also stated they did not expire and both drivers did not have a driver’s license.
An officer said in his arrest report he ordered Lopez-Escobar to lower the car’s front driver window but he refused. The officer then “slightly cracked” the window and reiterated to the Boca Raton driver to lower it.
When Lopez-Escobar let off the brake and the car moved forward, the officer said he grabbed the window, pulled it down and opened it.
After Lopez-Escobar put the Mercedes-Benz in park, the officer told him to get out of the car but he didn’t, according to the report. That is when officers pulled him out of the car, took him down and cuffed him. In a cellphone video recorded from the backseat of the car, at least one officer can be seen pulling his gun and pointing it toward Lopez-Escobar.
Like in the case of 32-year-old Mercado, whose videotaped arrest went viral on social media, the U.S. Department of State told police the diplomatic license plate was a fake.
READ MORE: Woman in viral video yanked from car by Sunny Isles cop charged for fake diplomatic tag
Lopez-Escobar was charged with driving a car with a counterfeit license plate and resisting arrest without violence, jail records show. He submitted a bond of $3,150 but remained behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Friday afternoon.
According to court records, Lopez-Escobar is being held for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Police said he is Colombian.
It was not clear if Lopez-Escobar and Mercado had retained an attorney.
Mercado’s court date is April 11 and Lopez-Escobar’s is April 12.
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 10:11 AM.
