Vinessa Noriega
By Kevin Deutsch
A Coconut Creek woman who identifies with the extremist “sovereign citizen” movement was arrested on an active warrant for burglary last month after providing a fake name to Margate police officers, court records show.
Vinessa Noriega, 38, of Wiles Road, was knowingly driving with a suspended license when Margate Police pulled her over in an undisclosed location on April 26, according to an arrest affidavit.
She handed police a fake identification card with a name and date of birth that was not her own, police said.
“As I began to speak with her more, I observed signs she may be a ‘Sovereign Citizen,’” police wrote. “The identification card was not real and said she was an ‘American National.’ She insisted this was her name even after I advised her she could be charged for giving a false name.”
A check by police revealed Noriega had an active arrest warrant for a burglary she allegedly committed in Colorado, for which there was an extradition order in place, records show.
Noriega, who is unemployed, also had an active arrest warrant for failure to register her vehicle and for driving with a suspended license in Broward County, police said.
She is also charged with resisting arrest without violence.
Noriega was booked into a Broward jail and posted a $5,000 bond, records show. It was not immediately clear from records Wednesday whether she was still in custody or whether she would be extradited to Colorado to face the burglary charge.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks U.S. extremist movements, sovereign citizens believe they are not under the federal government’s jurisdiction and consider themselves exempt from U.S. law.
They use a variety of conspiracy theories and falsehoods to justify their beliefs and their activities, some of which are illegal and violent, according to SPLC.
Got News in Coconut Creek or Margate? Send it to Margate Talk.