PITTSBURGH (AP) - Prosecutors have dropped most charges against a Puerto Rico native jailed in Pittsburgh for five days for driving a friend’s rented SUV without the rental agency’s permission.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office withdrew Jose Rodriguez-Perez’s misdemeanor and two summary charges Monday because Enterprise Rent-A-Car didn’t want to pursue the case.
The 33-year-old Rodriguez-Perez is still charged with a summary offense for failing to obey a traffic device after police say he drove on a bus-only ramp on Sept. 4.
Police say they couldn’t verify Rodriguez-Perez’s Puerto Rico driver’s license. They questioned his lack of travel documentation, even though he says he’s a U.S. citizen from a U.S. territory.
Rodriguez-Perez works as a welder in Brownsville, about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. Police say people facing misdemeanors can be jailed if they’re not Pennsylvania residents.
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