CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Port Charlotte woman has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and a year of probation after a traffic stop in which she refused to supply proper paperwork and even reached for a deputy's gun.
68-year-old Linda Louise was found guilty by jury of Resisting or Obstructing an Officer without Violence, No Valid Driver’s License, Failure to Establish and Maintain Financial Responsibility, and No Registration after less than 10 minutes of deliberation.
According to the State Attorney's Office, in May 2017, Charlotte County deputies stopped Louise for having a fake license plate. When deputies walked up to her car and attempted to speak with her, she refused to roll down the window or give her name. She ended up rolling the window down just an inch and handing the deputies paperwork about “FBI Privacy Laws”.
When deputies checked her registration for the vehicle, it was not current. She then handed them more paperwork. Deputies ordered her to get out of the vehicle and she refused. Deputies then helped her out and as they did she tried to grab a deputy’s gun. The defendant did not have a driver’s license and the vehicle was not insured.
During trial prosecutors introduced evidence of the defendant’s conviction from 2012 on the same charges of No Valid Driver’s License, No Registration, and Resisting or Obstructing an Officer without Violence.
Louise was also ordered to register any vehicle she owns with the State of Florida and show proof to her probation officer.
