{"id":1119,"date":"2026-05-28T23:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:32:06","slug":"hand-to-god-deputy-said-driver-was-texting-with-a-hand-that-she-doesnt-have-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1119","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hand to God.\u2019 Deputy said driver was texting with a hand that she doesn\u2019t have"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A Palm Beach County deputy asked Monday for a woman\u2019s texting-while-driving ticket to be dismissed after he accused the woman of using her cellphone with her nonexistent right hand, according to a social-media post.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1118\">No charges for Miami-Dade sergeant after high-speed chase ends in fatal shooting<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In February, Kathleen Thomas was pulled over on 1800 North Dixie Highway for first-offense \u201cdevice\/handheld while driving,\u201d the traffic citation shows. Palm Beach Sheriff\u2019s Office Deputy Yosvani Quesada issued the 36-year-old Lake Worth Beach woman a $116 ticket.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Thomas, who goes by slightlyoff.balance on TikTok, posted body camera footage from the interaction to her social-media account. The video shows her laughing as she holds up her arm to reveal she doesn\u2019t have a right hand.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The deputy told Thomas that she drove past him while holding and manipulating her cellphone with her right hand, according to the post. He seemingly backtracks and said \u201cwith the right hand perhaps not.\u201d The deputy asks whether Thomas was using her phone while driving, and she responded that she didn\u2019t, the video shows.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHand to God. You didn\u2019t have a phone in your hand?\u201d the deputy said, according to the video.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHand to God,\u201d Thomas responds, as she holds up her right arm without a hand.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe other hand to God,\u201d the deputy said, according to the video. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have a phone in your hand?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Quesada asked for the case to be dismissed Monday, citing \u201cinsufficient evidence,\u201d Palm Beach County court records show. His request was granted on Tuesday, and Thomas\u2019 final citation hearing was cancelled.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Thomas, who was born with her lower right arm missing, told Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami she was being her normal self and threw her hand up to God.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1116\">\u2018Hand to God.\u2019 Deputy said driver was texting with a hand that she doesn\u2019t have<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did not recognize that as a sufficient hand to raise to God, which is ironic considering that\u2019s who gave it to me,\u201d Thomas told the TV station. \u201cHe proceeds to ask me to do my left, which is like, \u2018OK, cool.\u2019 Watching it after the fact, getting that bodycam footage over the weekend and sitting with it, I realized immediately that I felt very uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In this particular case, the deputy initiated Thomas\u2019 traffic stop based upon his visual observation, the Palm Beach Sheriff\u2019s Office said in a statement. Deputies are allowed under Florida law to issue tickets when \u201cthey observe what they reasonably believe to be a violation involving the use of a handheld wireless device while operating a motor vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Authorities reviewed the state statutes involved and based upon the totality of the circumstances, \u201cspecifically the lack of clarity on how violations are labeled in our citation software,\u201d a decision was made to dismiss the case based upon a \u201cdifference in wording\u201d between the two statutes, which both pertain to the use of wireless communications devices while driving, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaw enforcement officers are required to make decisions based on observations made in real time,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s office said. \u201cAs with any enforcement action, motorists have the right to contest citations through the judicial process, where all facts and evidence can be fully evaluated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Thomas told CBS News Miami she wondered what the deputy\u2019s side of this encounter was.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cExplain to me what you were thinking. How did we get to this point?,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then from there, kind of just see where our two sides can kind of come together and say, hey, look, here\u2019s how we discuss limb difference. Here\u2019s how you address somebody. Here\u2019s things that you probably shouldn\u2019t do, like make them raise their hand to God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1114\">Old-school street hustle costs a man $4,000 and his Rolex, Miami police say<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Lake Worth Beach driver posted bodycam footage of the interaction with a deputy. She laughs as she holds up her arm to reveal she doesn\u2019t have a right hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Hand to God.\u2019 Deputy said driver was texting with a hand that she doesn\u2019t have - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1119\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Hand to God.\u2019 Deputy said driver was texting with a hand that she doesn\u2019t have - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Lake Worth Beach driver posted bodycam footage of the interaction with a deputy. 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