'I'm Freaking Out:' FL Man Tells Deputy Putin Caused Him To Speed

FLORIDA — A Florida man recently blamed his speeding on Russian president Vladimir Putin following a traffic stop.

A Flagler County deputy's bodycam video caught the interesting exchange of words in the "L section" of Palm Coast last Thursday.

"Do you know why I stopped you?" the deputy can be heard asking the unnamed driver.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," the driver responded, apologizing countless times, throughout the video.

According to the deputy, he pulled the driver over for traveling 50 mph in a 30 mph speed zone.

"The worst part is I think you ran that stop sign as well because you didn't even see me sitting there," the deputy also said.

Video of traffic stop:

That's when the driver proceeded to offer several excuses as to why he was exceeding the speed limit, including that he was trying to get the car out of sports mode. He also blamed the car on being brand new.

When the deputy didn't seem to buy either excuses, the driver offered up a third one.

"I saw a car coming, and I wanted to get out before them," the driver told the deputy.

As the deputy and driver continued talking, that's when the driver offered the biggest excuse of them all.

"To tell you the truth, I just found out that Putin has said he's going to launch nuclear thermal war against the world. I was trying to get back to my house to find out what was going on. I'm freaking out, OK?" the driver said.

The traffic stop took place the same day Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to WPLG-TV, the deputy wrote the driver two tickets: one for speeding and another for running a stop sign.