Cecilia Mercado: Singer arrested for driving car with fake diplomatic tag, later her driver gets held
SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FLORIDA: Latin singer Cecilia Selina Mercado seems to be in trouble again.
On Tuesday, March 12, 32-year-old Cecilia Selina Mercado, better known by her stage name Sessi, was reportedly found to be driving an Audi Q5 with a fake diplomatic tag.
This led to her being removed from the car and arrested. After she was released on Wedensday, the car she was in was again pulled over and its driver was also arrested for the same offense.
Cecilia Mercado arrested in Sunny Isles Beach for traffic violations
In Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, when the singer's car was pulled over, she gave the police her passport and claimed to have diplomatic immunity when they requested to see her driver's license, according to Local 10.
In a video recorded during the traffic stop, the police were seen holding Mercado's arm and asking her to exit the car.
“Please bring your supervisor now, you’re reaching inside our vehicle, I feel threatened!" yells a male passenger in the car, whom the outlet identified as Scott Huss.
“You’re reaching inside our vehicle, I feel threatened, I feel threatened, I feel threatened! Get off of her right now, get off of her right now,” Huss yelled.
He went on to say, “They have no jurisdiction over you. She is not a United States citizen, they have no jurisdiction.”
The singer and the police continue their heated exchange, during which the Huss threatened the officers that they were “going to get fired from your job, and she is going to get $250,000".
Mercado is yanked from the Audi for her refusal to comply. After that, she was seen being placed in handcuffs, and the officers informed her that the situation would not have gotten worse if she had just "complied".
“I did. I gave you my passport,” the singer said. Officers were informed by Mercado that the car was registered with the US Department of State.
Mercado's plates, which purported that she was a "diplomat", were found to be phony by investigators, the outlet reported.
"The female driver shown in the video was stopped by our officers for traffic violations. She then stated she had ‘immunity.’ She repeatedly refused to comply with officers’ orders and was placed in handcuffs,” the department said in a statement reported by Local 10.
On Wednesday, March 13, Mercado was freed on a $2,500 bond. She acknowledged being a "United States national" and told reporters that she was born in the Bronx as she spoke to them outside the jail.
Andres Lopez-Escobar is accused of possessing fake license plate
When questioned about the phony plates, the singer said, “They are not fake. They are completely registered to my private trust and my private vehicle which, by law, I am allowed to have a vehicle under a trust."
Mercado faces charges for driving a car with a fake license plate, sticker, or registration. According to the outlet, Mercado was picked up from jail on Wednesday by her boyfriend Huss in a Mercedes Maybach driven by Andres Lopez-Escobar. The Maybach also had fictitious diplomatic plates.
Police had to force the driver's window open after pulling the vehicle over because the driver would not open it.
According to the outlet, Lopez-Escobar, 22, is accused of driving without a valid driver's license, possessing a fake license plate, motor vehicle registration, or sticker, and peacefully resisting an officer. Additionally, the police reported that they removed several firearms from the vehicle.
“They had guns to the car; I just got out of jail,” Mercado said after her driver was arrested. “This is not funny. This is messed up.”
As per the Daily Mail, the singer, who was born in the Bronx, told her 195,000 Instagram followers in a series of stories that people are saying "false things" about her and that she has always been a "good community girl".
“I will not give up and stand my ground too many things going on this world especially me, I have been such a community girl and so good to my community… not okay! I have family in NYC police department.”
