Authorities dropped charges of distracted driving against a one-handed woman in Florida.
Kathleen Thomas is a fitness influencer and "adaptive athlete" who is missing her right arm below the elbow. She was pulled over in the city of Lake Worth in February, allegedly for distracted driving. After a months-long court battle, the charges against her were finally dropped on Wednesday for lack of evidence.
The original traffic stop occurred in February. Thomas posted a video to social media on Feb. 13 of her interaction with the officer, showing him issuing her a ticket.
"Turns out you can still get a ticket for driving with a device in your right hand, even if you don't have a right hand," she said in the video.
The video then cut to the moment when the officer hands her a ticket for using a wireless communication device handheld while driving. She asks if the officer wrote on the ticket that she was operating the vehicle with her right hand. The officer replies that he did not write it on the ticket, but that was what he said when he first made the stop. The video then cuts to Thomas in her home. She holds a phone in her left hand, then holds out her residual limb to demonstrate that it cannot hold the phone, which bounces off her arm and falls to the floor.
Her arraignment was held virtually on April 21. She posted another video to social media of her appearance and request for an in-person trial in Palm Beach County. In a comment replying to the post on Instagram, she confirmed that her trial was set for May 27.
"So obviously not," she says, laughing. "So, you want to just call this a day?"
The officer then doubles down on his allegation that she was using the phone with her right hand. She retorts that he did not see her with her right hand because there is no right hand, again holding up her arm to emphasize her point. He then asks her if she had her phone in her hand, which she denies.
"Hand to God, you did not have your phone in your hand," the officer demands.
Thomas raises her right arm and swears she did not. The officer prompts her to swear with her left hand, which she does. He proceeds to take her license and registration anyway.
"I cannot make up the reason behind why it was dismissed," she said. "It says, 'lack of evidence.' Bruh, we knew that already."