Investigators said Hobby, who was an Orange County deputy at the time, stopped a woman who was driving more than 100 mph on Alafaya Trail in Oviedo, just inside Seminole County, around 1:50 a.m. on Jan. 12, 2025.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Hobby did not return to his car to run a check on the woman, did not call in the traffic stop, did not activate his body camera and did not issue a citation.<\/p>\n
Instead, investigators said Hobby confiscated the woman\u2019s license and a THC vape pen before sending her back onto the road.<\/p>\n
Later, Hobby told investigators he was doing the woman \u201ca solid\u201d by not giving her a traffic citation, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took the law into his own hands, he didn\u2019t follow the rules, he was going to impose his own form of justice,\u201d prosecutor David Whateley said. \u201cHe let her drive away without her license, which is an offense by itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman later checked online and saw that her license was valid, then called the Seminole County Sheriff\u2019s Office, which found no record of the traffic stop.<\/p>\n
Investigators used traffic camera video to confirm the stop happened and identified the patrol vehicle as one assigned to Hobby.<\/p>\n
A search of Hobby\u2019s patrol vehicle found the woman\u2019s driver\u2019s license tucked into a space above the interior ceiling dome light, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Investigators said Hobby disposed of the vape pen in a property package from a different traffic stop.<\/p>\n
After Hobby\u2019s conviction on the second-degree misdemeanor, Judge Debra Krause sentenced him to six months of probation, 120 hours of community service and $1,292 in fines and fees.<\/p>\n
Hobby resigned from the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office in 2025 amid an internal affairs investigation.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Hobby rejected a plea offer that would have required him to surrender his law enforcement certification in exchange for entering a diversion program.<\/p>\n
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