Darius Jermaine Ned Thomas Jr. was driving west on the Florida parkway in Jacksonville that runs along the St. Johns River, listening to music on a Friday afternoon in August in his Chevrolet Malibu sedan, when a sheriff’s deputy in a marked SUV pulled him over.
“When you drove by me, I had my windows up, you had your windows up, and I could clearly hear your radio,” Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputy M.L. Albert told Thomas, according to recorded video of the traffic stop.
Albert handed the driver a $114 ticket under a new Florida law making it illegal to play music that can be heard more than 25 feet away – effectively two car lengths – or louder than necessary to hear it when a vehicle is near a home, church, school or hospital.
“You are going to get a citation for the music,” the deputy told the driver. “You cannot hear the music more than 25 feet away. We’re cracking down on that now.”