Alabama authorities dropped charges Wednesday against a German Mercedes-Benz executive who was arrested under the state's stringent new illegal-immigration law after a police officer caught him driving without required identification.

A Tuscaloosa police officer pulled over Detlev Hager, 46, last week for driving a rental Kia with no license plates. Hager produced only German identification documents, an unacceptable form of identification under the new law, and he was arrested, Police Chief Steve Anderson said.

The law, considered the nation's strictest, requires police who make traffic stops to check the residency status of people they suspect of being illegal immigrants.

A Hager associate retrieved his passport and a German driver's license, which led to Hager's quick release. He then presented the documents in municipal court and the charges were dropped, Anderson said Wednesday.