Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Bureau Chief Lou Caputo, right, costumed as the “Grinch,” hands out an onion to a Florida Keys motorist who was slightly exceeding the school zone’s speed limit Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, at Stanley Switlik Elementary in Marathon, Fla. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Larry Benevenuti)
Holidays Section
MARATHON (CBSMiami) — A Florida Keys sheriff’s officer got into the holiday spirit and gave drivers something to cry happily about in Marathon.
Monroe County Chief Lou Caputo, dressed as the Christmas “Grinch”, doled out onions instead of traffic citations to motorists who violated the speed limit outside an elementary school in Marathon on Monday. The onions only went to the drivers who were caught speeding by no more than 5 mph.
The “Grinch” ended up ‘ticketing’ ten tear-provoking vegetables to motorists in the Stanley Switlik Elementary school zone.
Caputo has donned the Grinch costume nearly every holiday season since seeing actor Jim Carrey in the 2000 movie of the same name.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Bureau Chief Lou Caputo, costumed as the “Grinch,” operates a radar gun to check the speed of oncoming traffic in the school zone of Stanley Switlik Elementary in Marathon, Fla. (Larry Benevenuti/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
The radar-gun-wielding “Grinch” is on hand to provide a light-hearted reminder to drivers to slow down.
Caputo often gives drivers the option of the onion or a ticket. Nine times out of 10 they accept the vegetable and appreciate the holiday forgiveness.
