A non-citizen from Mexico who is awaiting a 2027 immigration court date was arrested Wednesday night after he was caught driving in The Villages.
Victor Javier Duran Rodriguez, 26, of Wildwood, was driving a blue Dodge pickup truck southbound on U.S. Highway 441 at about 9:11 p.m. when a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy noticed the vehicle’s tag lamp was out. The deputy initiated a traffic stop near the Spanish Plaines shopping center at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 441 and Bella Cruz Drive.
During the traffic stop, Duran Rodriguez handed the deputy a Mexican identification card along with paperwork for a temporary driver’s license that had expired in April 2025. A subsequent computer check revealed that his driving privileges had been canceled indefinitely in March 2025 after a “non-U.S. citizen issuance was denied,” according to the arrest report.
The native of Morelia, Mexico, admitted he knew he didn’t have a valid license, telling the deputy that the county would not issue him one until he received proper documentation from immigration services. Duran Rodriguez further claimed that immigration officials had confiscated his passport and that he is awaiting a court date scheduled for sometime in 2027…