State Police troopers arrest Guatemalan man on I-70 on felony immigration warrant

PUTNAMVILLE -- A 42-year-old Guatemalan man was arrested on immigration charges Sunday afternoon when the car he was riding in was stopped for a traffic violation on Interstate 70 in Putnam County.

At approximately 2 p.m., Indiana State Police (ISP) Trooper Yan Dravigne stopped a black Nissan SUV on eastbound I-70 near the 45-mile marker for following other vehicles too closely.

During the traffic stop about four miles east of Cloverdale, a front-seat male passenger identified himself to authorities with an expired Guatemalan identification card, ISP officials said.

A routine computer check revealed the man, Mario Arturo Lucas Ramos of Douglasville, Ga., was wanted on an active felony immigration warrant.

Ramos had reportedly committed felony battery and felony driving while intoxicated charges in the past and was deported from the United States.

The man subsequently is alleged to have re-entered the U.S. illegally and found to be wanted during Sunday's traffic stop.

Ramos was lodged in the Putnam County Jail, held without bond on a Department of Homeland Security detention and removal order.

The driver, meanwhile, was cited for following too closely and released.