A stick shift is of course harder to drive than an automatic. There’s not just more going on with the pedals: often only one hand controls the wheel as the other changes up and down the gears.
If the one-handed steering maneuver was not in itself problematic for one driver in Florida this week, cops were less than impressed to find that the stick his free hand wandered to had nothing to do with controlling his vehicle.
Justin Mosser, 32, was arrested yesterday after a woman alerted Polk County deputies to his highly unpalatable driving technique.
The woman was driving on Highway 60 near the Lake Wales Airport at around 8:00 a.m. Monday when she spotted the driver of a gray Mazda next to her waving to attract her attention.
When she looked over, she saw that the man at the wheel had his penis completely exposed and was masturbating, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman reported the unsavory incident, and her detailed description of the man, along with photos of his car and license plate, helped vice detectives identify the suspect as Mosser.
Police then tracked him Wednesday morning only to experience the distasteful dexterity at first hand.
A female undercover detective was driving in an unmarked vehicle on Highway 27 near Pine Crest Road when Mosser appeared alongside her in his trademark gray Mazda.
If the cop was undercover, parts of Mosser’s anatomy sadly still weren’t: he again drew the female driver’s attention to his exposed penis and started masturbating.
However, this time he’d picked the wrong audience – the cops immediately pulled his car over and arrested him.
An unremorseful Mosser claimed to police he’d done the same thing to random women on four or five occasions.
The Avon Park man also had an excuse to hand for his unsolicited displays: he said he gets hot and “airs it out.”
Sheriff Grady Judd denounced Mosser’s behavior as “wrong on so many levels.” “First, nobody wants to see that. It’s disgusting, rude, and perverted. Second, it’s dangerous to be doing something like this while driving,” he said.
He urged other victims to contact the Sheriff’s Office.
Mosser was charged with three counts of indecent exposure in public and two counts of committing a lewd act.
He’s certainly no stranger to handcuffs, with an extensive criminal history including arrests for burglary, grand theft and DUI.