Show Caption

A traffic citation issued to a Florida woman accused of driving while holding her phone in a nonexistent hand has been dropped, following the release of bodycam footage from the encounter.Kathleen Thomas, of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, was pulled over by a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy on Feb. 11 for breaking the state's texting-while-driving law, according to court records obtained by The Palm Beach Post, a part of the USA TODAY Network. The deputy accused Thomas of "manipulating" her phone in her right hand, even as she showed him that she doesn't have a right hand, according to bodycam footage, which Thomas shared to her social media.The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy who wrote the citation asked the local traffic court to dismiss the $116 traffic ticket on May 27, according to court records, due to "insufficient evidence.""Bruh, we knew that already," Thomas said in a TikTok video on May 28, smiling and lifting her right arm.In an Instagram video shared May 27, Thomas said she will appear on CBS Morning on May 29 to discuss the incident.Boasting more than 468,000 Instagram followers, Thomas is a fitness influencer based in Florida. In April, she placed second in the adaptive female division at the HYROX fitness racing competition in Miami, of which she shared training videos from earlier this year.What happened during the encounter?On Feb. 11, a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy pulled Thomas over, claiming she drove past him, holding a phone in her right hand, the bodycam footage shows.In response, Thomas held up her right arm, which is missing a hand, and replied, "So obviously not. You wanna just call this a day?"But the deputy did not initially let up."You had a hand up," the deputy continued, per the bodycam footage. "I thought I saw your right hand."After Thomas once again explained she doesn't have a right hand, the deputy asked, "Hand to God, you did not have a phone in your hand?" To which she responded, "Hand to God."The deputy then asked for Thomas' driver's license and vehicle registration anyway.Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.Email news tips and articles to Chris Persaud at CPersaud@PBPost.com.