PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A driver pulled over for allegedly zooming through a school zone at more than twice the legal speed berated the officer issuing her a ticket, saying it’s no wonder law enforcement are shot in the line of duty, in a disturbing encounter caught on camera.
The woman was allegedly driving 51 mph in a school zone designated for 20 mph, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which posted the video online Wednesday. She asked the deputy to see his badge and his identification. He showed her his driver’s license, the video shows.
At first, the 62-year-old driver was deferential, pleading for mercy from the deputy while saying she couldn’t have been driving that fast because she’d “just left Target.”
Driver: “Can you give me a warning please?”
Deputy: “No, ma’am, not in a school zone.”
Driver: “I have so much frozen food in the car.”
Later, she says: “I’m begging you… I promise I won’t do it again. I really wasn’t aware.”
The deputy returns to his car to run the paperwork and when he walks back up to the driver’s window, her attitude has changed completely. She became confrontational and increasingly irritated. The deputy appeared to remain calm even as she berated him.
Deputy: “Ma’am, ma’am…”
Driver: “What?”
Deputy: “You’re being cited for speeding. Let me explain what your options are…”
Driver: “No wonder you people get shot! You’re absolute a**holes.”
Deputy: “OK. Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate that.”
Driver: “Have a nice day.”
He said in addition to the citation, he’ll also submit her for a driver’s license re-examination. When asked why, the deputy said “because you don’t understand why I’m doing my job.”
In addition to the shortened video posted to Facebook, which received 2.4 million views by Thursday morning, the department published an extended version of the dashcam footage.
The encounter begins at 2:05. Watch the video in its entirety, below:
Her comments come amid a particularly tense time for law enforcement nationwide.
Last week, three Las Vegas police officers were shot in as many days, with two them ambushed while they sat in their patrol car.
A week before that, a police officer in Fox Lake, Ill., was shot and killed during an altercation with three men. And late last month, a sheriff’s deputy was gunned down “execution style” while he fueled his patrol car in Texas.
