I'M TELLING HER SOMETHING. >> WE'LL HANDLE THAT IN A MINUTE. >> On August 21st, 2023 in South Florida, a traffic stop over illegal window tint and an unregistered vehicle ended in a criminal arrest, a towed car, and a verbal threat made to an officer. Captured clean on body camera, the stop was lawful from the first second. The vehicle's tint violated Florida statute 316.29.53, requiring more than 28% light transmittance on front side windows. Under Delaware versus Prouse, 440 US 648, 1979, that alone is probable cause. The tag check added a second independent violation. The plate did not match the vehicle. Florida statute 320.02 requires every motor vehicle on a public road to be properly registered. Two violations, two legal bases before a single document was requested. >> Can you please roll down your windows? All of them? Thank you. Got a license? Thank you. This car is unregistered. This car is not registered at all. Do you have a driver's license? I don't have a driver's license. Can I have your future address to a sheriff's office? give me a registration 2016 what's with the attitude the attitude is great the state of what state of what tell me what you scared of why because what what I do you scared of me because I pulled you over the tag is not registered the vehicle is not registered you tinted dark so I don't know who's in the car I attempted to pull you over there and you were just driving so of course you did I'm serious just turn off your car turn off your car relax relax it's not it's not that deep can I get your 911 try to run from me or anything you put my lights already I didn't see you apologize so you going to provide me your registration ma'am can you lower your window for me please what I have so if you have any issues about what just happened our little transaction you talk to my sergeant over here okay if you're on your feels give me a second how's it going you was rude you think he was rude I don't think he was rude wait I think she had a attitude I think cuz she just said that you didn't see his lights go further on but she just told him I wasn't trying to run from him and that she put it to the side but I didn't you didn't see all them windows oh lord how y'all see all these windows means dark you want to say Holy yeah. That's like That's like 35% or something like that, bro. >> Can't see my lights. >> I bet. >> Don't talk to me. Yo, yo, don't talk to me like I'm your man. Don't talk to me like I'm your man. You're not your man. >> I'm not talking to you like that. >> Lower your voice. >> I I didn't even I don't know you. I think you're rude. You're very rude. Let's be cordial. >> Is this all recorded? >> Yes, I want to record you cuz you're rude. Like you're so rude. >> Do you think Do you think >> I'm just trying to ask you a question. >> Hey, go down one. What? >> Limited contact with talking to I have a customer coming down and you guys say it's it's a problem. >> 931 out 101. Hey, I'm going to be a minute. I got to I'm going to research some stuff, so. >> In my car. Right by my my front spot. Three cops. >> Do you have a 45 for a minute over? >> Yeah, that's probably that's probably literally like 50% 50 or lower than that. Like that's dark. Can't even see the AS line here where it's supposed to be at. You can't centimeter that. I don't I don't really have one. I mean all of them all of them are way too dark anyway. >> I have eye problems. >> Eye problems don't warrant for illegal tint. >> Tory, listen I understand you have eye problems, but that's something that you going to have to work out with your your doctor and then to give you the paperwork to get the DMV. If I have the paperwork and if you have that's something to to do with DMV, okay? Um, but first off I'm just going to let you know now you're going to continuously get pulled over because of your tint. This tint should never be just like how our patrol car is, it should never go past this line right here. Is that black AS line right? Yep, you should not your tint should never be past that line. >> And we're supposed to be able to see it from the outside. I can't even see the AS where the line is right here. There's a little the letters that say AS line, I can't even see that. >> If you're on the highway, you're definitely going to get pulled over by FHP non-stop and the kind of car you're driving, I'm going to tell you now if you will get pulled over. Okay? Your tint, you're going to have to work it out. If you bought it this way, I'm going to tell you now just go get it changed. All of it cuz you get And it could I'll be quite quite frank. If you and whoever it is the police having a particular banter, if that person decides they can give you a ticket for all four tickets plus that one so that's five tickets you'll get >> Every single window can be can be ticketed. >> So just know that that can happen and if you don't want to have to pay a hundred and something dollars No, I'm not saying you're No, I'm saying I'm not talking about him. I'm just talking in general, right? So if you don't want to get Um, for all of these these these this tint, you need to go see somebody to get it to the legal limit. And this thing, the front one, you will get pulled over it nonstop, cuz that's the first thing we'll look for. Cuz we can't see in your car. So, that's what that you're you're already targeting yourself just like that. So, it's up to you. Try to get your medical paperwork and take it to the DMV and say, "Hey, you need this because of your situation with your eyes." And you say something that they can add onto your file whenever you get pulled over. But, if not, you're going to get pulled over all the time, guaranteed. There's no if, ands, or buts about it, especially if you go out of town and you're driving up and down the highway. >> Yeah, I was saying I think people want 100% right here to this. >> Yeah, I mean >> are right. Every single window is >> This is I mean, us for the most part FHP is part of the highway Florida Highway Patrol. So, >> That's all those guys do is write tickets. >> Where y'all headed to the mall? >> To the Bahama Breeze to pick up the best food. >> Oh, so your food over there getting cold. Mhm. Hope it wasn't the empanadas. I'd hate to have to warm those up in a microwave. What did the officer say to you before I got here? >> Just see the top of my window. I wrote it down and then he said um, "Can I see your ID?" I handed it a card and he was like, "Is this my ID?" >> Okay. >> And I I said he said, "Where's your registration? Your car registration?" I don't have a registration. >> And I >> And then I give him this, but he wasn't very rude. >> Okay. >> He was like, "Roll down all the windows." And he's like, "What's with the attitude?" I said, "I don't have attitude. I'm scared of you." >> So, I'm scared. Yeah, I saw she was scared and she was like, "Just cuz I got pulled over." >> Okay. >> And then he was just And then when he just came up to me, I I I He said he He said he tried to pull me over. I didn't see it. I just seen him right now. I said I didn't see you. He's like, "Don't talk to me like you I'm your man." >> Yeah, I was scared for that part. >> Like I don't know how I was talking to him like that. Talking to him like that. Like a regular person, your police officer. I didn't talk to my man crazy. She talked to my man crazy. I was very nice. >> We called 4655. >> You want to see my license? Okay. Um how long ago? >> I'll check over there. >> It's been It's been quite a while. >> That's why I got scared. >> The radio said to put her on the speaker. She said she can't have somebody come out now, but she'll have somebody come out later. I told her she can call back and we'll have her respond with her to clear the house. >> I mean, it's good for a reason. Um your your license is not only suspended, it's been canceled. Okay, since last year of 2022. January. On top of that, you're driving recklessly in a unregistered motor vehicle. >> I'm not driving recklessly. >> Don't tell me how I was driving. >> Ma'am, I don't have to explain anything to you. Ma'am, ma'am. At this point, I don't have to explain anything to you. You have to listen to me. All right? I'm done talking. Here's your steering wheel. >> Dispatch returned the most consequential piece of information. The license was not suspended, it was canceled since January 2022. Florida statute 322.34 makes operating on a canceled license a criminal offense. She had been committing that offense for over a year and a half. Following the arrest, officers conducted an inventory search before towing, permissible under South Dakota versus Opperman. 428 US 364, 1976. The driver cited a medical eye condition for the dark tint. But Florida's DMV accommodation requires documentation filed in advance to have any effect at all. Then, the driver created new legal exposure. While being placed into the patrol vehicle, she stated on camera, {quote} I am going to find who the blank you are. {end quote} Florida statute 836.05 covers verbal threats placing another person in fear spoken in front of multiple officers. >> As I understand well. >> I'm putting my phone over here. >> Let's go. >> Do you see how he's talking? Do you see how he's talking to me? Like, what did I do? Did I say anything wrong? He said, "I'm done." What did I do to him? Sorry, did you see that? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. >> Do you have a a driver's license, ma'am? >> Yes, sir. >> Can I have it so we can make sure that you can drive this car if she wants you to drive it? But, ultimately, ma'am, you know you can't be driving. So, you shouldn't be behind the wheel of your vehicle. Okay? So, that's problem one. Problem two is you got stopped because of how how dark it is out. >> he how he is. He's very rude. >> what it is. Okay. >> scared. Come on, let's go to the car. See Hold on. Hold on. No, it's not Hold on. Hold on. Wait, I'm telling her something. NO, I'M I'M TRYING TO TELL HER SOMETHING about my stuff. So, what is that? >> We'll handle that in a minute. >> Hold on to this. Shut up. Get in the car. >> Oh, you're I'll find you. I'll find you when I get out of jail. I'll find you. Hold on. Hold I'm not resisting. I'm standing here. >> Okay, just stop. Let Let me pat you down and make sure you don't have anything on you. And then we'll talk about it. Hold on to this. Why don't you stand for me? Hold on. >> California >> Is someone else taking me instead of him? >> Unfortunately not. He's the one that's going to receive it. >> It's okay. The camera will be on. >> All right. Do you want your friend to drive your car? >> No one's driving the car. >> I need to talk about my house and about my keys. >> Okay. Tell me what you want >> About my phone. You don't know my passcode. >> Okay. Tell me what you want to tell her. Oh, yeah. Or I can't have her walk over here and and >> Yeah. I can walk over here. I just need to talk before he snatches me out of there. >> Okay. >> He's rude. >> Okay. One second. You have any tail? >> Yes. Absolutely. >> Roll the window down so her friend can figure out what she wants to do with her um property. >> Do you have oil? >> Huh? >> Do you have oil? My car's like jammed up. >> Oh, no. Alan, what's his name? Randy got that. >> This thing, the car's not going to be driven cuz there's nothing that's registered on it. So you need to just start working on >> What's your officer's name on her ID? >> Uh I think he does. Do you have her ID? >> Yeah, I do. >> Um Sierra. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. She wants to tell you something about her house keys and her phone and something else. >> What do they talk? >> Yeah, you got you got oils? >> Uh I just don't I have WD-40 at home. >> True. I mean, that's true. >> Randy has stuff. >> Randy, do I go to the window or something? >> Yes. >> I'm going to inventory this vehicle. >> All right. >> Has Johnson got >> No. >> It's okay. >> Has Johnson got it? >> No. >> Got my entry. >> If you want the phones to go with you, the phones can go with you. It's up to you cuz you're going to have to get numbers out of it when you're at the jail. >> She has eye problems. Yeah, I don't know. She cannot see. She has eye problems. >> That's not my problem. I didn't I didn't cite it for anything like that, Sarge. Um I'm taking her into jail because she wants to press this put out violence. >> Now for the grades. The arresting officer receives a B. The stop, the arrest, and the physical control used were all legally justified under Graham versus Connor. 490 US 386 1989. What cost him points was communication, not law. Dismissing a scared driver, then declaring he was done talking before a calm non-urgent arrest is the opposite of de-escalation. The law supported everything he did. His manner made the same encounter significantly harder to manage than it needed to be. The sergeant receives an A minus. He shifted the tone immediately, explained tint law accurately, disclosed the canceled license without theatrics, and answered every question about bond and vehicle recovery. The deduction is for calling the arresting officer, {quote} very rude, on camera. A label that can surface in civil proceedings. The driver receives a D. A canceled license, an unregistered vehicle, and illegal tint on every window, all predating the stop. She cooperated once the sergeant engaged, but the verbal threat, captured on camera in front of multiple witnesses, does not disappear quietly in a courtroom. >> She's been on suspended license for over a year and her car is unregistered. I'm sorry. It's insecure. Talk to my sergeant. >> Can I buy it now? No. >> Huh? Yes, ma'am. We're searching / inventory in it cuz it's being towed. And the search and the search is the search is incident after arrest. You can just probable cause to search your vehicle because you're being arrested. Okay? Is there anything in the car that we need to be concerned about? Okay, it's not a big deal. Then all we do is we go through it. We have our cameras on the whole time. We're inventorying to make sure there's not anything of value in that because once the tow truck gets here, we have to notify them of anything in there that you don't want her to take with her. Okay? >> Okay, and can I ask you a question? >> What's up? >> After all this happens with my car, can I get my car out? >> Yeah, you are so it's not registered. So it's an unregistered vehicle. So you have to go down there and have to You you're going to have to prove ownership of the vehicle when you go down there to the tow yard. So once you get out, you have to prove the vehicle is yours. Huh? Because there's that license plate that's on there right now does not come back to that vehicle. It's not registered to that vehicle. Okay? So you can't be operating the vehicle on the roadway. So my suggestion is for you to get it out of the tow yard, if you don't go to the DMV first and register it and get a license plate for it, you're going to have to have it towed from the tow yard to your house because the tow company is not going to let you drive an unregistered vehicle off their lot and drive away. Huh? >> Will they let me get it out? >> They'll let you get it out, but if you don't have a license plate attached to it, they're not going to let you drive it off the lot. So cuz they're going to be liable at point. So you're going to need either make arrangements to have it towed from there to your house or go down to the DMV, register it, get a license plate attached to it. So that way when you go down there, you can show them it's registered, put the tag on it, and then from there you can go. Also though, you need to also have a valid driver's license when you go down there to pick it up. So if not, you need to have somebody that with you that has a valid license to let them get it out of there as well. Because just because it's your car, they'll release it to you, but they won't let you drive it away. They'll call us and be like, "Hey, this person's trying to drive away with a car she didn't have a valid driver's license." They won't let you drive it. They won't do that. So, you got a couple ducks that you need to get in a row first. So, it starts with It starts with your license and primarily whatever the hell it was canceled for, whatever that crap is, go down to the DMV, handle it. Well, they can set up they can set payment plans up for you. They can set all kinds of stuff up. But you can't avoid it like this. Cuz when you avoid it, this is This is what happens. Yes. Huh? Oh. Yeah, you'll have a bond. He'll have to tell you what it is cuz I don't know it off the top of my head. So, when he gets there and he types his paperwork up, he'll tell you what the bond is. But I don't know what it is off the off the top of my head. So, but easiest way for traffic situations like this for you to have them resolved is once you get out, start working to correct the issue because that always looks good in front of the court system when you're trying to not be convicted of this crap and have all this thing over your license, make a deal with the state, something along those lines. But at the least you start showing effort where as in you said you have a ton of tickets, start a payment plan with them cuz they offer that for you. That at least shows to the court system that you were trying to handle it in the right manner. So, you don't have to have pay every single ticket off right then and there. But at least if you're working towards it, they can work with you and stuff. Okay? All right. >> I need to call her and she'll meet me over there. And it will be 25 minutes. >> Echo 91. >> Hello. >> 501 to jail. >> Hello. >> 1002 Fox Trot 10-15 5 mile out. >> I'm on it. >> One second, I'm on the radio. >> Got it. >> 54622 >> This encounter also carries clear practical lessons. They are not unique to this stop. They appear consistently across body cam footage nationwide, and understanding them changes how these situations end. Here are the five that matter most from this footage. Lesson one, tint is not cosmetic. It is legal exposure. Florida statute 316.2953 is enforced statewide, and each window is an independent citable violation. Dark tint on a full vehicle is a guaranteed stop by every officer who sees it. Lesson two, a medical condition does not create a legal exemption on its own. Florida's DMV accommodation process requires documentation filed in advance and recorded on your driver file. If it is not on file before the stop, it cannot protect you during it. Lesson three, a canceled license is not the same as a suspended one. Under Florida statute 322.34, cancellation requires formal reinstatement through the DMV, not just fine payment. Every mile driven on a canceled license is additional criminal exposure. Lesson four, what you say during an arrest is evidence. Florida statute 836.05 does not require a written threat. A verbal statement made in front of witnesses and recorded on camera is usable by prosecutors. The driver created a potential new charge at the worst possible moment. Lesson five, compliance and escalation produce different outcomes. The driver who stays calm and works through the court system is treated differently by judges and prosecutors. The sergeant in this footage explained exactly how to begin that process. The threat made it significantly harder. The stop was inevitable. The tint, the unregistered vehicle, and the canceled license made it a matter of when, not if. The arrest and the threats' legal exposure were not inevitable. Those were choices made during the encounter, not outcomes written in before it started. The law was applied correctly here. Every enforcement action rested on Florida statute and controlling case law. The only real question this footage raises is whether the arresting officer's approach, while entirely lawful, met the standard his sergeant demonstrated in the same call. The cameras' answer is no. Two officers, same call, same legal authority. One left the driver more agitated and making threats on camera. The other gave her a clear path forward. The law gave both the same tools. How they used those tools produced two very different outcomes. That difference matters because the outcome of a law enforcement encounter is not determined solely by what the law permits. It is shaped significantly by how authority is communicated. This footage shows what that looks like when it works and when it does not. What the camera captured here was a routine stop made complicated by choices made in real time. The law was clear. The violations were documented. The only variable was how each person chose to respond. That variable made all the difference. If you found this analysis useful, subscribe to our channel so you do not miss future breakdowns. We cover body cam footage from across the country and walk through the legal framework behind every decision on screen. Drop the footage you want us to cover in the comments.