A Florida influencer and adaptive athlete is challenging a distracted driving ticket after a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy wrote that she was holding a phone in her “right hand.” So Katie had one obvious question: how?
Katie, who posts under the name slightlyoff.balance on TikTok and Instagram, was pulled over in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, on February 11. The stop happened around 8:04 AM on North Dixie Highway while she was traveling northbound, according to the citation.
The deputy cited her for “Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving - First Offense” under Florida Statute 316.305(3)(a). The ticket carried a $116 civil penalty.
What the deputy said during the stop
Katie first shared the end of the traffic stop on February 20. In that clip, the deputy can be heard saying he saw a device in her “right hand.” Katie immediately challenged that description, pointing out that her right arm ends shortly after the elbow.
Viewers quickly urged her to contest the citation rather than pay it and move on. In an April 22 update, she said she had entered a not-guilty plea over Zoom and was scheduled to fight the ticket at trial on May 27.
The night before that planned trial, Katie posted body camera footage from the stop. In the video, the deputy approaches her driver’s side window and tells her he saw her using a phone with her right hand.
Katie raises her right arm in response. She tries to laugh through the moment and asks if they can “call it a day,” which would have been an efficient ending. The deputy keeps asking questions and has her confirm that she was not using a phone.
Why the bodycam clip spread so quickly
The footage drew attention not only because of the citation, but because of the awkward exchange that followed. At one point, the deputy asks Katie to raise her right hand to swear on it. She lifts her right arm and laughs, after which he asks her to raise her other hand instead.
Despite that moment, the deputy still issued the citation alleging that she used a wireless device while driving.
Katie is known online as an adaptive athlete whose content often focuses on “Doing One Arm Sh*t.” Her posts about the ticket have since reached millions of views across social media, with commenters turning the case into a running joke and encouraging her to fight it in court.
The humor around the story is obvious, but the reason it landed is just as plain: the citation depends on an observation that Katie says could not have happened as written.
What Florida law says about handheld devices
Florida’s texting-while-driving statute bars drivers from manually typing or entering letters, numbers, symbols, or other characters into a wireless device while operating a vehicle. It also prohibits sending or reading data for non-voice communication behind the wheel.
The law does include exceptions, including for:
- Navigation use
- Reporting emergencies
- Receiving safety alerts
- Certain voice communications
Katie’s argument, as shown in her posts, centers on the deputy’s specific claim that the phone was in her right hand. The bodycam footage became central to the public conversation because it appears to capture her challenging that wording directly during the stop.
As of the time of writing, Katie had not publicly shared the outcome of the May 27 trial.
