Georgia Cop Quits in Disgust as Activists Rage Over Illegal Student's Bust and Department's Silence

justmindy | 6:45 PM on May 25, 2025

A police officer did his job and pulled over a car that appeared to be a car involved in another crime. That car was not the car the police were looking for, however, the driver had no license and was in the country illegally. As such, the young woman was turned over to ICE and set for deportation. Of course, the activists went into overdrive, and part of their fury was aimed at the police officer. That officer is now complaining his department did not support him enough, and as a result, he has now resigned.

Ga. cop who arrested illegal-migrant college student in bad traffic stop resigns https://t.co/eTfSge5TYD pic.twitter.com/0V9CFTXTqd
— New York Post (@nypost) May 25, 2025

A Georgia cop who arrested a college student during a bad traffic stop that ended up paving the way for her potential deportation has resigned from his post.
Dalton Police Officer Leslie O’Neal stepped down Friday, two weeks after authorities said he mistakenly took into custody Ximena Arias-Cristobal, who is in the country illegally, after believing she made an illegal turn May 5.
During the traffic stop, O’Neal also found that Arias-Cristobal, 19, didn’t have a valid driver’s license and cuffed her. She was eventually determined to be in the US illegally and held on immigration raps. But the driving charges against her were dropped when dashcam footage showed O’Neal had mistakenly pulled her over because she was in a pickup truck similar to the vehicle he was looking for.
In O’Neal’s resignation letter, viewed by 11 Alive News, the cop said he was leaving the department because of its “inadequate response to and defense against public accusations of false arrest, which arose after a charge from a valid arrest was publicly dropped without explanation.”
He also argued he can’t carry out his duties going forward in Dalton because of the backlash and lack of support from the department, according to the station.
“We can confirm that Officer O’Neal did resign from the DPD on Friday,” a rep for Dalton told the station. “He was the arresting officer in Ms. Arias-Cristobal’s case.”
The traffic stop led to national attention when Arias-Cristobal was transferred from a county jail to federal custody after immigration authorities discovered she was in the country illegally.