Police have dropped the charges against a Florida woman who went viral for being accused of holding her phone in her right hand at the wheel, after it emerged that she does not have a right hand.
Kathleen Thomas, 36, who was born with a limb difference, was pulled over on suspicion of distracted driving on February 11 and was slapped with the traffic citation, according to police bodycam footage of the incident that she shared on TikTok a day before she was due in court over the matter.
In the clip, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy claimed she was holding a phone in her right hand while driving along North Dixie Highway.
The officer approached her vehicle and claimed that she drove past, “holding your phone in your right hand.”
She then raised her right arm in the air to show the officer. “So, obviously not,” she told him while laughing, before she quipped, “So you wanna just call this a day?”
However, the officer doubled down and insisted he saw her hold her device with her right hand.
“Hand to God, you did not have your phone in your hand?” the officer asked her, prompting her to lift her right arm again.
“The other hand to God, you did not have your phone in your hand,” he asked awkwardly, as she lifted her left hand.
Despite this, Thomas, an fitness content creator known online as Slightlyoff.balance, was issued a citation with the charge listed as “Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving - First Offense” with a civil penalty of $116, according to CBS 12.
The law has been in effect since 2013, but was strengthened in 2019 to make texting while driving a primary offense for which drivers can be pulled over.
Social media users urged Thomas to fight the ticket, and she went to court last month and pleaded not guilty.
She was due in court on Tuesday, but the case was dismissed the day before, when Thomas received the body camera footage and uploaded it to social media.
The officer who issued the ticket dismissed the case over the holiday weekend due to “lack of evidence,” Thomas said in the video.
The Independent has contacted Thomas and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
