Most drivers caught speeding have an excuse. Maybe they’re late for work. Perhaps their foot slipped. Or maybe their speedometer only goes to 85. But one driver in Minnesota skipped the excuses and went straight for the ultimate legal loophole—a Monopoly “Get Out of Jail Free” card. Shockingly, it kind of worked.

On March 24, 2023, a Chisago County police deputy pulled over a driver speeding through Franconia Township. When the officer asked for ID, the driver handed over his license—along with a Monopoly “Get Out of Jail Free” card. The deputy must have been caught off guard because the sheriff’s office later posted about it on Facebook: “[On Friday, March 24,] a deputy did a traffic stop, and the driver handed him this card, along with his driver’s license.”

Of course, Minnesota does not actually honor Monopoly cards in a court of law (tragic, really). But the sheriff’s department still gave him props for trying. “Unfortunately the state of Minnesota does not recognize this as a valid document. Points for the effort and humor though!”

Somehow, the driver avoided both fines and jail time—no bail money required. “The driver was issued a verbal warning,” Captain Andrew Mahowald confirmed. Guess he really played his cards right.

The internet loved the Monopoly card stunt

When the sheriff’s department posted the Monopoly card incident to Facebook, commenters had a field day:

“Bet he’s waited his whole life to use that ?” one person wrote. Another joked, “Looks like it’s been pulled from the wallet a few times. Gotta give him an ‘E’ for effort ?”.

One user even wondered about bodycam footage: “Is there body cam video of this encounter? I must see it ??”

And of course, some people were just impressed: “That officer deserves a raise just for keeping a straight face.”

Not the first time someone pulled the Monopoly card

This wasn’t the first time a driver rolled the dice on Monopoly law. A police officer on Reddit shared his own experience with a similar stunt—but that driver wasn’t so lucky.

“I stopped a guy and he handed me a ‘Get Out of Jail’ card from a Monopoly game. He had 3 warrants. I told him to show that card to the judge and then tell me how it worked out.”

Safe to say, that guy did not pass Go. Instead, the officer was probably writing his ticket as “Go directly to jail”. Moral of the story? Play your cards right, and you just might get away with a warning. Next time, maybe the driver should just fess up to his crimes and hand the officer a Sorry! card.

Apparently, Monopoly law is such a get-out-of-trouble fantasy that it made its way into a YouTube comedy skit. The video (embedded below) imagines a world where this trick actually holds up in court.