Oh, woah. WOAH, WHAT THE WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHAT ARE you doing? >> Put your hands behind your back. >> Put your hands behind your back. >> Why are you doing this? >> Why why why would you think it's a good idea to pull a knife >> No. >> on a traffic stop? >> On January 1st, 2023, a sheriff's office deputy pulled over a female motorist for a blue tag light, a violation of Florida Statute Section 316.2397, which explicitly prohibits blue-colored lights on non-emergency vehicles. What followed raises serious questions about search authority, weapons on a traffic stop, and the consequences of not knowing your legal obligations. The initial stop is the easy part legally. Florida Statute Section 316.2397 is clear. No blue lights visible on the exterior of a private vehicle, period. The officer had reasonable suspicion the moment he observed that tag light. That stop was airtight. >> Go ahead and copy that. To me I'm 41 and Thomason on 1200 block of BC. >> Evening. >> Yeah. >> Hi, Sergeant DeCarlo with the Sheriff's Office. Reason I pulled you over tonight is your tag light is blue. So, you can't have blue lights visible on the outside of your vehicle. >> Okay, I didn't know that. >> That's right. Do you have your license, registration, proof of insurance on you? >> I don't. >> You don't? Did you forget your wallet at the house or >> No, I have my license, but I don't have my registration or insurance. >> Okay, do you mind grabbing your license for me? Is the car registered to you? >> Yes. >> Yes, you said? Okay. Thank you. And your license is valid, correct? >> As far as I know. >> Okay. Do you know what insurance company you have by chance? >> Geico. >> Geico? Okay. All right, just sit tight, okay? If you want to go up there, uh hit the passenger side >> Yep. >> and take a sniff inside the window. >> That's why I stopped recording right now. >> That's fine. >> I know, but I stopped recording. >> You want to take a sniff inside the passenger window, just ask her. Uh what what insurance company did you say you had again? Cuz you didn't She didn't give me anything, so maybe I forgot. But take a sniff, see if you smell any 50. I you should Is your name? That's interesting. >> That's definitely marijuana. >> It is? >> Oh, yeah. >> I thought I thought I was catching it. Have a seat Have a seat back in the car. Oh, WHOA WHOA WHAT THE WHAT IS THAT on the What are you doing? Put your hands behind your Put your hands behind your back. >> Why are you doing this? >> Why why why did you think it's a good idea to pull a knife on a traffic stop? >> Okay, guys, I am taking this out so you don't pull me over again. >> What out? >> My lights. >> Why would you get out of the car on a traffic stop? >> To take that out so you don't pull me over again. >> What out and a knife in your hand on a traffic stop? That's the easiest way to get shot. >> I'm sorry, sir. >> You know that? >> I just want to take this out because I don't want you pull me over again. >> So, you wait until we're done on the traffic stop when you're at home. >> What are you doing? Get out of my car. For what? >> I smell the odor of marijuana coming out of the vehicle. Do you have a medical card or not? >> No, my son does. >> All right, then. >> Oh. Wait. You can't search my car. >> Well, I'm going to search your car. >> No, you're not. Okay, wait. Why are you going to search my car? >> I have probable cause based on the odor of marijuana. You're telling me that you do not have a medical marijuana card. >> Okay, you want to call my son? He has one. >> Is your son in the car right now? >> There's no reason for it to smell like marijuana because I don't smoke. >> It does. So, I'm going to search >> Right now, my pants and piss in a cup and you'll find >> I I would prefer if you didn't drop your pants for me, ma'am. I am going to search the car. >> No. >> Yes. >> I'm not giving >> Have a seat on the bumper. >> I'm not giving you >> If you're saying that >> a lawyer. >> If you're saying that you're not giving me consent, that's fine. I don't need consent. I have probable cause. >> I want Okay, I need to call Let me call >> Have a seat on the bumper. >> No, I'm calling a lawyer. >> Not right now, you're not. Stop resisting, him. Otherwise, we're going to pepper spray you next. >> I need to call my dad. He is a sheriff. >> What's his name? >> Ralph I need to call him now. I need to call a lawyer or somebody because you guys are have improbable cause, okay? >> Stop resisting. >> You can't take this light out of my car before since obviously you pulled me over and there's thousands of people that don't even have a front headlight and you're going to pull me over for a blue light. >> Mhm. >> A A blue light. >> Cuz it's against the law. >> Well, I didn't know that. They shouldn't sell them if they're against the law. >> Well, they sell a lot of things that are against the law, right? >> Okay, and that's the only reason you're going to You're going to pull me over because I didn't have a light. And now you're going to pull me over because I have a light. No, I'm not resisting, you guys. I'm not resisting. >> Turn around. No, you don't want to >> I want to watch you look through my car. >> Turn around. Here's the deal. >> If you're going to go through my car, I want to watch you. >> watch me do anything. Lean up against my car. >> Lean up against my car like so. >> You got this side? >> Yeah, I got this side. I was going to mark it. >> Ah, damn it. I got to reach in there for this? >> Heard my head go cough and spit and all of a sudden I see my recruit running up. I'm like, "Uh-oh." >> Yeah. >> Did he react? >> Yeah. >> Fast enough to >> Yeah, he was on her before he >> Awesome. >> got up to her. >> You can't go through my purse. >> Yes, I can. >> No, you can't. >> Where did you get Where did you get your law degree, ma'am? >> warrant? >> I have probable cause. >> You don't. My car smells that way because my son smokes in it. >> When When When did you go to the law enforcement academy last? >> his thing. He has his card. >> Okay. >> So, what are you doing? That's none of your business. What are you looking through? >> That's fine. >> What are you doing through my backpack? >> Same thing you're doing in your purse. Searching gets me a probable >> Yeah, you don't have permission to search You said my car. >> cause. Yep. >> Several. >> Back her up over there. >> 85 Charlie 21 >> You're Listen. You're not going to stand behind me? >> Several. >> Yeah, let's go. We're going to walk back this way. If you resist them, I will pepper spray you. >> here. Would you stop? >> No. >> No, I WANT TO SEE. NO. >> HI. >> I HAVE THIS RIGHT. GO AHEAD. YOU GUYS CAN LOOK AND YOU'RE GOING TO PUT SOMETHING IN MY CAR AND THEN YOU'RE GOING to say I had something. You guys ARE DIRTY COPS. YOU'RE GOING TO PUT SOMETHING IN MY CAR AND SAY I HAD IT. DON'T TOUCH ME. Touch me. >> Just pat her down. Make sure she doesn't have any any other knives on her. >> and say I had something. >> No, so you're going to jail right now. It's open. All right. There you go. Have a seat in the car. >> Okay, you guys are going to No. >> Have a seat in THE CAR. >> I HAVE RIGHTS. >> SIT IN THE CAR. SIT IN THE CAR. >> I HAVE RIGHTS. OKAY, you guys are putting stuff in my car. And you're going to say that >> Get in the car. >> Give me my >> Have a seat in the car. Go. All right, watch your knee. >> The legal picture gets more complex at the probable cause stage. Both officers independently detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Under Florida case law, including State versus TT, decided by Florida courts in 2020, the odor of marijuana alone is sufficient to establish probable cause for a warrantless vehicle search. Once probable cause exists, consent becomes legally irrelevant. The driver's refusal to allow the search carried no legal weight. The Supreme Court established in United States versus Ross, decided in 1982, that probable cause to search a vehicle extends to every container found within it, including personal bags, purses, and backpacks belonging to the driver. The driver's objection that officers could not search her purse is understandable, but it is legally incorrect. Under Ross, a personal bag inside a vehicle is not protected from a probable cause search simply because it belongs to the driver. Florida courts have consistently followed this federal precedent. The driver's assertion of a separate privacy right in her purse did not hold up under the law. Now we get to the most dangerous moment in this entire encounter. The driver exited her vehicle during an active traffic stop holding a knife. She stated she wanted to remove the blue tag light herself so she would not be pulled over again. That explanation, however sincere, is legally meaningless in the moment an officer sees a blade coming out of a stopped vehicle. Under Pennsylvania versus Mimms, decided by the Supreme Court in 1977, officers conducting a lawful traffic stop have the authority to order a driver out of the vehicle. That authority flows one direction, from the officer outward. It does not authorize a driver to self-exit uninstructed while armed. The moment she stepped out holding that knife, the legal and tactical calculus changed entirely. Use of force analysis here falls under Graham versus Connor, 1989, which requires that an officer's response be judged by the standard of a reasonable officer on the scene with the information available at that moment, not in hindsight. An armed subject exiting a vehicle at close range during a traffic stop meets that threshold for an immediate response. The officer's reaction was objectively reasonable under that standard. The driver also requested an attorney multiple times. This is a constitutional right protected under the fifth and sixth amendments. However, Miranda rights and the right to counsel attached to custodial interrogation, not to an ongoing probable cause vehicle search. The officers were not interrogating her. They were conducting a search that was already legally authorized. Invoking counsel did not halt that search. The driver also claimed her son held a valid medical marijuana card under Florida statute section 381.986, the Florida Medical Marijuana Act. The problem is simple. Her son was not in the vehicle. The card belongs to a specific individual. It does not travel with the car. Without a valid card holder present, the marijuana found in the glove box had no legal cover. >> Hey, Lantini. Um By the time I got out of my car, he already had hands on her. >> Mhm. >> Um >> Who took it? >> Well, no, I'm saying talk to him. Um I don't know exactly what transpired in that little area. Um If he felt like she was going to use a knife on him, we have we have aggravated assault LEO. >> Mhm. >> But I mean, talk to him. If he doesn't, I mean, we still have resisting a little bit of weed. But I'm not going to I'm not going to let something like that slide if we have it. Right, so yeah. Um You got the assault with a deadly weapon cuz you said you already told her to drop it and she didn't and then you pulled it out of her hand and threw it. So, he was yeah, cuz I didn't want her to use it on me cuz it was close quarters. >> Was Was Did Was she in fear that she was actually going to use it or was it >> I didn't see if she was holding it longer or longer or but what he said she You told her to drop it, she didn't, he took it out of her hand and threw it. I don't know if we have the aggravated assault We still have resisting and uh and weed. And the weed. We just got to test it. I can knock this out real quick so you guys aren't tied down. >> He He needs >> Unless you want it? I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. I shouldn't. I shouldn't. Are none of these Like does she not have locks on this side or unlock button? Dude. This car is bad. So, there's like a couple of knives in this car. Yeah, she's uh an interesting interesting character. Put her stuff back in her purse. So, this will go with her property. Um so, in the narrative the traffic stop was initiated by you for the prohibited lights on vehicle, the blue. Tag light. >> Yeah. >> And then he walks up, alerts to the odor of marijuana. Um I'm doing my traffic thing. Um in doing this, she with the knife. Like what? Hey, then the the weed was found in the glove box. So, she's sole occupant, so she owns it. She doesn't have a medical card. So, you want me to you want me to do a tow form? >> Thank you. >> Did I call for a tow yet? Okay. >> Now for the grades. Sergeant DeCarlo receives a B. The stop was legally sound. The probable cause determination was properly established with a second officer confirming the odor independently, and no excessive force was used despite a highly volatile encounter. The deduction comes from scene management. The confrontation became unnecessarily chaotic, and clearer communication of legal authority earlier in the stop might have reduced the escalation. The assisting officer, referred to in the footage as a recruit, receives a B+. He independently verified the marijuana odor, strengthening the probable cause foundation. And he responded to the knife situation with decisive speed, reaching the subject before the sergeant could. In a close-quarters edged weapon encounter, that reaction time matters. His performance under pressure was the standout element of this stop. The driver receives a D. She was not charged with a violent crime, and she did not physically attack the officers, which prevents a lower grade. But her decisions compounded a minor equipment violation into a criminal matter. She exited the vehicle uninstructed, with a knife in hand, refused lawful orders, resisted a legally authorized search, and physically resisted arrest. Each of those decisions made her situation significantly worse. The outcome. She was charged with resisting arrest without violence under Florida Statute Section 843. 02. And drug possession under Florida Statute Section 893. 13. She was sentenced to a $250 fine, no incarceration. Given the knife incident alone, the outcome could have been significantly more severe had officers chosen to pursue an improper exhibition charge under Florida statute section 790.10. Every encounter like this one carries lessons that apply beyond the specific facts. Here are five takeaways grounded directly in what happened on camera. Starting with the most important. Lesson one. Never exit your vehicle during a traffic stop unless instructed by an officer. Under Pennsylvania versus Mims, officers control the movement at a traffic stop. Self-exiting, especially while holding any object, instantly changes how an officer must assess the threat in front of them. Lesson two. Refusing consent to search does not stop a probable cause search. If officers have legally developed probable cause, your consent is not required. Refusing it verbally while officers proceed lawfully only increases friction without any legal benefit to you. Lesson three. A medical marijuana card is tied to the individual, not the vehicle. Florida statute section 381.986 requires the card holder to be present. If the card holder is not in the car, the marijuana is unprotected, regardless of whose it actually is. Lesson four. Invoking your right to an attorney is constitutionally protected, but it does not stop an ongoing lawful search. Know the difference between what halts interrogation and what halts a search. They are governed by different legal standards and different constitutional provisions. Lesson five. Resisting a lawful arrest, even without violence, is a criminal offense under Florida statute section 8 .43.02. It adds a charge to an already bad situation, and it gives officers a legal basis to escalate their response level under use of force guidelines. This stop started over a blue light. It ended with an arrest, a $250 fine, and a record. None of that was inevitable. The law does not always go the way people expect it to, and understanding how these rules actually work before you are standing on the side of the road is what makes the difference. If this breakdown helped you understand how Fourth Amendment law applies in real traffic stop situations, share it with someone who needs to see it. Drop your questions or reactions in the comments below. And if you want more legal analysis of body cam footage like this, subscribe to our channel so you never miss an episode.