When, according to police an officer stopped a sport utility vehicle on Tokeneke Road with no tail lights on at 9:22 p.m., that alleged violation turned out to be the least of the driver’s problems.
Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:
On Thursday evening, May 17, the officer saw a white Honda Odyssey headed in the direction of Norwalk. Since the SUV’s back lights weren’t on, the officer conducted a traffic stop near the intersection of Tokeneke Road and Cliff Avenue.
The driver, Edwin Esquivel of 91 Ely Ave., Norwalk, initially told the officer his name was “Marvin Xar-Gomez.” The driver also didn’t have identification with him, including a driver’s license.
Which, it turned out, doesn’t exist.
Esquivel was sinking deeper into trouble anyway, since a records check showed Xar-Gomez name showed that driver had a suspended privilege to drive. The officer completed a summons for the driver and told him that, following policy, he wouldn’t be released until police could confirm his identity.
That’s when Esquivel admitted he had lied about his name, and gave the officer his real name. He wasn’t lying about not having identification, however. Esquivel’s brother later came to the scene of the traffic stop and provided the officer with the missing identification — a passport.
Giving his real name, didn’t get Esquivel out of trouble, either. The officer checked state records using Esquivel’s real name and found a charge of failure to appear in court back on Oct. 14, 2012, in state Superior Court in Norwalk.
It got worse for Esquivel: The records check also showed that his driving privilege had been suspended, just as Xar-Gomez’ had. Suspension of a driving privilege, according to police, happens between the time someone is found driving without a license and the time the matter is resolved. It is a misdemeanor to drive when the privilege is suspended.
Esquivel was arrested on charges of second-degree failure to appear in court, interfering with an investigation, driving with a license under suspension, and for the original violation spotted by the police officer — driving with improper rear lights.
The charges in the 2012 Norwalk case, in which Esquivel is accused with failing to appear in court are driving without a license, evading responsibility in a motor vehicle accident and driving under the influence.
Esquivel’s bond was $5,000 for the Norwalk court charges, and he is scheduled to appear in that court on May 30. His bond for the Darien charges was set at $500, and for those charges he is scheduled to appear May 29 in state Superior Court in Stamford. He posted the bonds and was released.