When Lawrence police officers stopped a vehicle with an expired tag over the weekend, the driver gave them an unusual excuse: He was a sovereign citizen.

According to Officer Derrick Smith, who shared information in a media email:

The traffic stop happened about 12:15 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of 15th Street and Barker Avenue. The man, who had multiple warrants for his arrest, “was a self-proclaimed Sovereign Citizen.” The man resisted arrest, holding onto the steering wheel of the vehicle and refusing to exit after being told to do so multiple times. Officers then “physically removed the suspect from the vehicle and took him into custody.”

The man received a small cut to his forehead and some scratches on his body during the incident, and declined medical treatment, Smith said in an email response to the Journal-World. Smith said officers did not use any weapons, only their hands.

The man arrested in the incident, according to jail and court records, was charged Monday with failing to have vehicle registration and driving without a valid license.

The Southern Poverty Law Center summarizes the sovereign citizen movement this way: Its adherents hold “complex antigovernment beliefs,” believe they get to decide which laws to obey and which to ignore, and don’t think they should have to pay taxes.

— I’m the Journal-World’s public safety reporter. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or by phone at 785-832-7187. I’m also on Twitter, @saramarieshep.