Breaking Amish’s Jeremiah Raber ticketed for driving without a seatbelt

There are only two more episodes of TLC’s Breaking Amish reality series, and it appears that the parade of skeletons exiting the cast members’ closets is finally coming to a close. (Although there is still time for the inevitable sex tape to emerge.) Today’s entry in the “Faking Amish Files” is minor compared to the numerous arrests, former marriages, children, and other sindiscretions from these supposedly “fresh off the farm” Amish and Mennonite youths, but it does have significance in that it pointedly discredits a major aspect of the show.

During the season we get to see Jeremiah Raber get behind the wheel of a car for the first time ***cough cough*** as he trains to become a New York City taxi driver. We’ve heard from his ex-wife (and mother of his three children) Naomi Stutzman that Jeremiah was no stranger to driving (or cell phones, or ATMs, or casinos, or strip clubs, or jail) and thanks to a tip from a reader we appear to have found proof.

UPDATE – A commenter pointed out that Jeremiah did say he had driven before and we rewatched the episode. The driving instructor asked if he had ever been behind the wheel before, to which Jeremiah responded, “a horse and buggy.” Then, in a narrative voice over, he clarifies by stating “I’ve driven a car before, without people knowing it, but it was always on country roads.”

It seems Jeremiah was cited on February 6, 2012 for not wearing a seatbelt and it clearly says he was driving at the time (with insurance, to Jeremiah’s credit). And just in case you were wondering, Breaking Amish was reportedly filmed in May of this year.

*** It should also be noted that Jeremiah’s car was registerred in Florida, where he lived for some time with wife Naomi and their three children. It must have been very difficult getting the car, a license, and insurance “without people knowing it” and then driving it all the way to Ohio “always on country roads.” 🙂

TLC has remained quiet throughout the season about all of the information that has surfaced about the cast members that contradicts how they promoted the show, but that should come as no surprise given the HUGE ratings the show continues to pull in regardless of the inaccuracies. (Breaking Amish has averaged over 3 million viewers a week, making it an even bigger hit than TLC’s other break out show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.)

A Facebook account that appears to belong to Jeremiah (under the name Lone Rider) has been making comments on some of the Breaking Amish debunking Facebook pages, and he seemed to indicate that he would be able to address all of the accusations in a couple weeks. So it could be that TLC will unsequester the cast members once the season finale has aired. We will just have to wait and see. (I’m secretly hoping the last scene is similar to The Hills in which the cameras pull back and reveal the show to be completely scripted and fake.)

Maybe Jeremiah Raber will be getting his own spin-off series titled The Dukes of Punxsutawney.

“Just a good ol boy, never meaneded no harm, beats all you ever saw been in trouble with the law since the day he was born…”

YEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!