A Palm Beach County deputy pulled over a Florida woman in February for allegedly holding a cell phone while driving. The deputy told her at the scene that he had seen the phone in her right hand. The driver does not have a right hand.
Kathleen Thomas, 36, was cited and given a $116 civil penalty under Florida’s law against handheld wireless device use while driving. The case might have ended quickly at a county hearing this past Tuesday. Instead, it ended without a hearing at all.
Court records show the deputy who wrote the ticket requested that the citation be dismissed before the hearing, citing a lack of evidence. The hearing scheduled for May 27 was canceled. Thomas, an adaptive athlete and amputee content creator who had already documented her own side of the stop online, said she had been planning to fight the citation in court.
Body camera footage of the stop has now made its way online, alongside Thomas’s own video. The deputy on the recording is heard repeating his account several times. Thomas is heard explaining several times that she only has one hand. It’s quite plain to see in the video.
What Happened During the Stop
@slightlyoff.balance Low key thought I had two hands for a minute 🤦🏻♀️ #palmbeach #cops #PBSO #floridaman #pulledover ♬ original sound – slightlyoff.balance
According to court records and a copy of the citation, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled Thomas over at about 8:04 a.m. on Feb. 11, 2026, along North Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach. The deputy accused her of violating Florida’s Wireless Communications While Driving Law by holding a phone behind the wheel. He told her he had seen her holding the device in her right hand, according to the citation and body camera footage. Thomas told him she does not have a right hand and held out her right arm to show him in the video.
In the footage, the deputy continued to insist that he had seen Thomas using the phone, telling her at one point that she had had a hand up. He then asked her to swear, hand-to-God style, that she had not been using her phone while driving. Thomas held up her right arm in response. The deputy then awkwardly asked her to use her other hand.
The Citation and Its Dismissal
@slightlyoff.balance The finale!!!!! #court #cbs #update ♬ original sound – slightlyoff.balance
The citation Thomas received was for a first offense of “Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving” under Florida Statute 316.305(3)(a), with a $116 civil penalty. Thomas later posted her own video of the stop on TikTok, under the handle @slightlyoff.balance, and the video went viral. She also requested the deputy’s body camera footage through a public records request.
Court records show that the deputy who issued the citation later asked that it be dismissed before a hearing scheduled for May 27, citing a lack of evidence, and the hearing was canceled. It’s not clear whether the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office plans any internal review or whether the deputy faces any disciplinary action. Aside from Thomas’s latest TikTok update, this appears to be the end of the story.
Florida’s Wireless Communications While Driving Law first took effect in 2013. In 2019, it made texting while driving a primary offense, which means drivers can be pulled over solely for that reason. Under the current statute, drivers can’t manually type or enter letters, numbers, or symbols into a wireless device while operating a vehicle, covering activities such as texting, emailing or instant messaging. So while you can be on the phone, you aren’t allowed to communicate via text.