--- description: A man who was pulled over for talking on his cell phone while driving says that he was actually just eating a McDonald's hash brown. title: Man Enjoying McDonald's Hash Brown Gets $300 Ticket image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8616082d8a53d17e/69893feb22fb851456e27411/mcdonalds-hash-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Enjoying His McDonald's Hash Brown Who Got a Ticket for Distracted Driving Wants Justice  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Nov 26, 2018 10:20 PM CUT  The McDonald's logo is displayed on the packaging of a hash brown at a McDonald's restaurant on January 30, 2018 in San Francisco, California. The McDonald's logo is displayed on the packaging of a hash brown at a McDonald's restaurant on January 30, 2018 in San Francisco, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Nov 26, 2018 10:20 PM CUT A [Connecticut man](http://time.com/money/5236284/taylor-swift-bank-robbery-1600-dollars-fence/ "undefined") who was pulled over for talking on his [cell phone](http://time.com/4908654/cell-phone-bacteria/ "undefined") while driving continues to maintain that he was actually just eating a [McDonald’s](http://time.com/5187552/mcdonalds-beef/ "undefined") hash brown. After Jason Stiber was issued a $300 distracted driving ticket in April when police allegedly mistook his crispy potato snack for a cell phone, he decided to fight the charge in court. “I was eating a hash brown and he thought he saw a cell phone near my mouth,” Stiber said of the incident, according to [Times Union](https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Westport-man-goes-to-court-over-hash-brown-dispute-13412629.php "undefined"). But despite the fact that Stiber says phone records show he didn’t make any calls around the time he was ticketed, he lost at trial in August. Stiber also said that he has Bluetooth and therefore has no need to hold his phone up to his face. He’s now scheduled for a retrial on December 7 at state Superior Court. “I’m going to trial for justice,” Stiber said. “He was pulled over for talking on his cellphone and given an infraction. I’m sure his claim is different,” Westport Lt. Jillian Cabana said, but could not comment further due to pending litigation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5463687/mcdonalds-hash-brown-ticket/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5463687/mcdonalds-hash-brown-ticket/"},"headline":"Man Enjoying His McDonald's Hash Brown Who Got a Ticket for Distracted Driving Wants Justice","datePublished":"2018-11-26T22:20:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:10.959Z","description":"The Connecticut man says he was just eating a snack","url":"https://time.com/5463687/mcdonalds-hash-brown-ticket/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","Bizarre","Mcdonald's","Fast Food"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8616082d8a53d17e/69893feb22fb851456e27411/mcdonalds-hash-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8616082d8a53d17e/69893feb22fb851456e27411/mcdonalds-hash-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"McDonalds-Hash-Brown","caption":"The McDonald's logo is displayed on the packaging of a hash brown at a McDonald's restaurant on January 30, 2018 in San Francisco, California.","creditText":"Justin Sullivan/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5463687/mcdonalds-hash-brown-ticket/","name":"Man Enjoying His McDonald's Hash Brown Who Got a Ticket for Distracted Driving Wants Justice"}}]}] ```