HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Jon Sheptock was born 38 years ago without arms and with one leg shorter than the other. So he uses his feet for everything.
"I brush my teeth, I wash my face, wash my hair, take a shower," Sheptock said. "I can change myself. Put on my pants, put on my shirt."
He can also drive. Sheptock was driving where he lives in Huntsville in January when a Sam Houston State University police officer pulled him over for an inspection violation. Sheptock admits he deserved the ticket, but it's what the officer said to him after he wrote the citation that upset him.
"I said, 'Do I need to sign it?" Sheptock said. "And he said, 'No, I'm just going to put here unable to sign because I don't want you to put your feet on the pen that I'm holding."
Sheptock, a husband and father of three who has sung the national anthem at a Texans game and at other events, says he felt humiliated and reported the incident to a supervisor, who apologized. But after not hearing from the officer who pulled him over for three months, he wrote an editorial in the local newspaper last week expressing his feelings of degradation. After the letter went viral online, Sheptock received an email of apology from the officer.
The department tells Channel 2, "The officer has been reprimanded. In addition, the officer took it upon himself to send a heart-felt letter of apology to Mr. Sheptock."
Sheptock just wants to know why it took so long.
"Everybody knows the quote "armless guy" who sings in Hunstville," said Sheptock. "So it's not very hard for somebody to go ahead and find out who I am."
Sheptock said he would like an apology from the officer in person, face to face.
