Cop pulled woman over for 'holding a phone' — he turned beet red as he realized she only had one arm

A Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy was left questioning what he actually saw after an encounter with Katie, an adaptive athlete with a disability. The officer pulled her over to give her a ticket for distracted driving, reported Complex on May 27, 2026. A video clip shared by the New York Post on Facebook showed the officer walking next to Katie's car to explain why he pulled her over. He informed her that he saw her holding a phone in her right hand while driving. Without saying a single word, Katie lifted her right hand to prove her point.

An impossible accusation

According to the officer's claims, Katie was driving and holding her phone with her right hand. However, the problem with the accusation was that Katie did not even have a right hand, let alone hold a phone. Confused, Katie immediately raised her right arm and showed the officer to clear his doubts. But nothing could convince him. In fact, the cop began to double down, claiming that he definitely saw her holding her phone. Katie asked if they should call it a day, but he refused to believe that she was being truthful. The woman laughed initially, but as the officer repeatedly insisted she was holding her phone, the interaction became uncomfortable. He even asked her, "Hand to God, you did not have your phone in your hand?" She responded by lifting her right hand, and he said, "The other hand to God."

'Lack of evidence'

Even though Katie repeatedly told the officer she could not have held her phone with her right hand, he issued her a $116 fine for distracted driving. She, however, pleaded not guilty and was ready to go to court on the citation. The court date was set on May 26, on a Tuesday. But a day before the set date, the citation was cancelled, and the case was dropped by the officer who issued it, shared Katie in an update video. "I went ahead and went to the court this morning, and got a handy-dandy paper that says dismissed," she added. While Katie couldn't figure out why her case was dismissed, the paper cited "lack of evidence" as the primary reason. 

Unsafe driving habits

Even though Katie was not using her phone while driving, not everyone obeys traffic rules. A survey conducted by Drive Research across 1,800 Americans found that 45% of respondents have used their phone or texted while driving. Out of the participants, the majority of people who used their phones while driving were Gen X (52%) and Millennials (52%). Aside from texting and driving, 63% revealed that they have sped while driving, while 54% did not completely stop even though there was a stop sign, and 2 in 5 respondents have run a red light at least once while driving.

Netizens call out the cop

Meanwhile, people called out the police officer for not apologizing to Katie, even after realizing his mistake. For instance, Corey Elliott commented, "It shows you the truth of how cops manipulate and lie under oath just to make revenue." Similarly, Paul Rayner shared, "He should be disciplined. He could have apologized for being wrong, as she took it pretty well. But his arrogance and god complex would not allow common sense to win."

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