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Like to sing in your car? Montreal man says he was ticketed for Everybody Dance Now sing-along

Everybody dance now
Taoufik Moalla says he was pulled over after loudly singing in his car in Saint-Laurent. (HuffPost Canada)

Taoufik Moalla may have just been letting the rhythm move him.

But that didn't stop Montreal police from giving the 38-year-old father of two a ticket after pulling him over near his home in Saint-Laurent.

Moalla says he was in his car, singing along to his favourite song, C+C Music Factory's 90s dance classic, Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), in late September when he suddenly saw police lights behind him.

He was pulled over on Sainte-Croix Avenue and four Montreal police officers came up to look into his car, he said.

They asked him what was happening, and Moalla said 'nothing.'

The officer then asked him, "Did you scream loudly?"

He replied, "No, I was just listening to my favourite song," Moalla recalled.

"I repeated, 'Everybody dance now!'" Moalla said.

A few minutes later, Moalla says police handed him a $149 ticket for "screaming in public."

'Did I really bother anyone?'

He said he understood police wanting to check what was happening in the car, but he was "really upset" by the magnitude of the fine.

"If they found that everything was OK and there was no danger, they should have told me to continue on my way … but not a $149 fine," he said.

"I was singing loudly in my car. Is there something that forbids that, or did I really bother anyone?"

Moalla said he contested the ticket in early October and he is now waiting to hear back on the status of his case.

Montreal police said they could not comment on Sunday.