On February 11, in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled over Kathleen Thomas, 36,and cited her for driving while holding a phone in her right hand. the problem: Thomas is an amputee and has no right hand. bodycam footage showed Thomas laughing and holding up her stump as the officer insisted she had been manipulating a device.. The ticket, for a first offense under Florida's wireless communications law,carried a $116 fine and was later dismissed at the deputy's own request, according to CBS 12.

The $116 ticket for a hand that doesn't exist

According to bodycam footage obtained by CBS 12, the deputy told Thomas she had been driving while "holding the phone with your right hand, manipulating that phone." Thomas raised her right arm to reveal a stump where her hand should be, laughing and replying, "Obviously not." Despite this clear evidence, the deputy did not relent. He proceeded to write a citation for "Wireless Comm Device Handheld While Driving First Offense," a civil penalty of $116. The incident, reported by CBS 12 and Complex, highlights a breakdown in basic observation and discretion.

Why the officer asked 'other hand to God' after seeing the stump

The exchange grew more surreal when the deputy asked Thomas to "put a hand to God" and swear she had not been texting while driving. Thomas raised her left hand, but the officer corrected her: "The other hand to God." Thomas then lifted her stump. The moment, captured on bodycam, underscores the officer's failure to register that Thomas literally could not have used her right hand to hold a phone. Traffic attorney Ted Hollander told CBS 12: "Whether she's holding it in her right hand or her left hand, it really doesn't matter. If you are not in a school zone or a construction zone, you are allowed to hold a cell phone."

What Florida's texting law actually prohibits — and what it doesn't

Florida law makes texting while driving a primary offense, meaning a driver can be pulled over for that alone. The law prohibits manually typing or entering multiple characters into a device for texting, emailing, or instant messaging. However, it includes exceptions for naviagtion, GPS, safety, and emergency purposes. crucially, as attorney Hollander noted, merely holding a phone — even while driving outside school or construction zones — is not illegal under current Florida law. This means Thomas's charge was doubly flawed: she couldn't have been holding a phone in her missing hand, and even if she had been holding it with her left hand, that act alone is not a violation.

The unanswered question: why the deputy issued the citation anyway

The Bodycam footage makes clear that Thomas showed the deputy her stump before the ticket was written. Yet the citation was still issued . The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has not publicly explained the officer's reasoning. The Daily Mail reached out for comment but has not received a response. The citation was eventually dismissed at the deputy's own request , and Thomas's court hearing was canceled. But the incident leaves an open question: what training — or lack thereof — allowed a deputy to persist with a citation that was factually impossible? The deputy's identity has not been released, and no disciplinary action has been reported.