Florida Woman’s Phone While Driving Citation Dismissed After Deputy Mistakes Missing Hand for Phone
A traffic citation issued to a Florida woman accused of holding a phone in a hand she doesn’t have has been dismissed, months after body camera footage of the encounter went viral and reignited debate over distracted driving enforcement.
Kathleen Thomas, 36, was pulled over on February 11 along North Dixie Highway by a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. According to bodycam footage, the deputy approached her car and explained that he had pulled her over because he saw her holding a cellphone in her right hand.
There was one problem: Thomas was born with her lower right arm missing.
In the video, Thomas laughed and raised her right arm to reveal the missing limb, asking, “Obviously not… So, you want to just call this a day?” The deputy, according to Thomas, did not initially accept that gesture and asked her to raise her left hand instead.
Despite the apparent misunderstanding, the deputy issued her a $116 ticket under Florida Statute 316.305(3)(a), listed as “Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving – First Offense.”
Ahead of her scheduled court date, Thomas obtained the bodycam footage and posted it on TikTok, where it racked up more than 23 million views. The clip sparked widespread criticism of how the deputy handled the stop and renewed scrutiny of Florida’s distracted driving law.
A court hearing had been scheduled, but was canceled after the case was dropped at the request of the deputy who issued the citation. Court records indicate the citation was dismissed for “insufficient evidence.”
In a statement, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said the deputy “initiated a traffic stop based upon his visual observation at the time of the incident,” and that the ticket was dropped after a review of the laws and “based upon the totality of the circumstances, specifically the lack of clarity on how violations are labeled in our citation software.”
The office added that “law enforcement officers are required to make decisions based on observations made in real time,” and that motorists retain the right to contest citations in court.
