Watch the video:
Kevin Finley made a right turn in Winter Springs, Florida. His tires clipped the double yellow line for about a second — and an unmarked cruiser lit up behind him. By the time he pulled into his own driveway, he was detained at gunpoint and charged with fleeing and eluding. A felony.
The officer’s own camera caught him weighing it out loud: file the felony side of flee-and-elude, or hand out the stack of traffic infractions. He picked the felony. The entire stop was about one second of tire contact with a painted line.
What the officer did not count on was the car. Finley’s Tesla records from cameras mounted around the vehicle, and the footage captured everything — including how briefly the patrol car’s lights were even visible behind him. The state’s theory of a driver fleeing from police ran head-first into the car’s own recording.
Two years later, a judge threw the case out before a jury ever heard it.
The Winter Springs department defends the stop to this day. Their position: every vehicle stop carries “a significant amount of uncertainty.” Finley is weighing a civil lawsuit.
Here’s the part worth sitting with: for years, the cameras were pointed at us. Dashcams, plate readers, intersection lenses — the stated deal was that footage would keep everyone honest. This time, the camera that kept anyone honest was the civilian one, mounted on the car of a man being charged with a felony for a right turn.
Sources:
#OhDangReally #Tesla #WinterSprings #FloridaPolice #PoliceAccountability
