Holiday motorists going a bit too fast through a school zone on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway might receive an onion from the Grinch instead of a traffic ticket.
Colonel Lou Caputo, who recently retired from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, donned the Grinch costume Friday morning to stage an awareness-raising holiday traffic patrol at Key Largo School.
Caputo worked with active-duty deputies clocking the speed of cars passing the elementary/middle school. Dressed as the green-faced character created by children's author "Dr. Seuss," he offered a choice to drivers who went 5 mph or less over the school zone's speed limit: a ticket or an onion.
The Grinch speed enforcement detail, launched by Caputo more than 20 years ago, emphasizes the need for drivers to obey speed limits and stay off cell phones in school zones.
"We educate people during the holidays to come through the school zone, but slow it down a little bit, pay attention — because in the holiday season, people are distracted," said Caputo.
When a car is pulled over, uniformed deputies check the vehicle's license plate and the driver's license. If all is in order, the Grinch then appears before the driver to discuss the speeding offense and make his offer.
Caputo conceived the program after watching the 2000 film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," starring Jim Carrey's onion-loving character. His appearance typically startles drivers, he reported, but virtually all of them choose the onion over the ticket.
On Friday, one woman driver actually bit into an onion in front of the Grinch.
"We don't want to force anybody to take an onion if they don't like onions — if you prefer the citation, we can give you that citation," Caputo quipped.
Though the speed enforcement project is lighthearted in nature, its serious purpose is the reason Caputo continues to portray the Grinch even in retirement.
"I think working with the Sheriff's Department is important to continue the tradition of educating people in our school zones, and I find a lot of pleasure in doing it," he said.
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