On January 19, 2026, at 12:49 a.m. Deputy Michael Bates conducted a traffic stop on a Black 2009 Honda Accord after observing the vehicle fail to maintain its lane of travel multiple times on US 41 near County Road 100 West. Upon approaching the vehicle attempted to identify the driver of the vehicle, but the driver did not have a license and could not provide any other form of identification. Further the driver who was later identified as 38-year-old Alvaro Diaz Cardenas of Princeton stated that he had never obtained a valid operator’s license. Once Deputy Bates was finished with the roadside investigation, he placed Mr. Cardenas into custody and transported him to the Gibson County Detention Center where he was charged with Operator Never Licensed.
Deputy Levi Sims and Princeton Officer Jackie Wood assisted Deputy Bates in this investigation.
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
