A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy received a verbal reprimand over a viral traffic stop in February in which he ticketed a woman for texting with her right hand while driving — despite the fact that she does not have a right hand.
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The morning of the incident, on Feb. 11, Deputy Yosvani Quesada pulled over Kathleen Thomas in the 1800 block of North Dixie Highway, according to the internal affairs report. He told her he was conducting a distracted driving operation and that he had seen her texting with her right hand while driving, according to the report and body camera footage. Thomas held up her arm to show that she had no right hand.
“So you want to just call this a day or …?” Thomas said in body camera footage of the incident that later went viral on social media. Quesada insisted he he saw a phone. Thomas showed her right arm again.
“Hand to God, you did not have your phone in your hand?” he could be heard asking her in the video. Thomas then raised her right arm before switching to her left hand, according to the footage.
Quesada issued her a $116 traffic ticket, according to court records.
When Thomas asked Quesada if he had written on the ticket that she had been using her phone with her right hand while driving, he said that he didn’t specify which hand, according to the report.
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In May, three months after the traffic stop, PBSO determined that Quesada’s interpretation of Florida’s texting while driving law “did not align with the statutory elements required” to establish a violation, the internal affairs report says. A sergeant “reviewed the statute and its required elements with D/S Quesada to ensure a proper understanding of the law and its application.” Afterward, Quesada submitted a form to the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts to dismiss the traffic case, saying there was “insufficient evidence.”
The internal affairs report concluded that Quesada had violated PBSO rule regarding “proficiency — job knowledge and skills” as he “misundersood the legal elements necessary to establish a violation” of the Florida texting and driving statute. The internal affairs investigator recommended a verbal reprimand, which was approved by Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.
Quesada did not return a phone call Friday afternoon. The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Information from The New York Times was used in this report.