A bizarre crash in Daytona Beach, Florida, has turned into the sort of story that sounds like somebody tried to cram an entire season of “Cops” into one afternoon.
According to reports, 24-year-old Elizabeth Boucher was arrested after allegedly crashing her roughly $50,000 Ford Bronco into a parked sedan on August 30. Video reportedly captured the Bronco smashing into the vehicle with enough force to send glass flying and push the smaller car across a front lawn.
And apparently hitting the parked car was not enough to bring the adventure to an immediate stop.
Boucher allegedly kept her foot on the gas while the Bronco’s rear tires spun and threw dirt into the air. Thankfully, the owner of the parked vehicle was not sitting inside it when the crash occurred.
The situation somehow became even stranger when the vehicle’s owner, alerted by a neighbor, came outside to see what had happened. According to the account provided to police, Boucher confronted her and punched her in the face. The woman responded by punching Boucher, reportedly knocking her to the ground.
“She came at me, and she was right in my face. She smacked me right here,” the victim explained.
When Daytona Beach police arrived, officers reportedly believed Boucher appeared intoxicated. She allegedly told them that she “did not know what really happened.”
That is certainly one way to describe a Ford Bronco rearranging somebody else’s front yard.
Police said Boucher had difficulty standing and, when asked for her driver’s license, handed officers her passport instead. After officers again requested her license, she reportedly handed them her purse. She also complained that she was “hot” and attempted to get into the police vehicle.
Things did not improve from there.
Video reportedly shows Boucher begging officers not to take her to jail. After police advised her of her rights and asked her to participate in sobriety testing, she refused and attempted to walk away. Officers eventually placed her in handcuffs.
“Why are you doing this?” she reportedly whimpered.
Then came perhaps the strangest line of the encounter.
“I thought we were all friends,” Boucher cried while officers placed her in the squad car.
Police officers are not there to be drinking buddies, therapists, or participants in some roadside friendship circle. Their job is to enforce the law and protect the public. When someone is suspected of driving drunk, crashes into private property, allegedly strikes another person, and then refuses sobriety testing, friendship is not exactly the issue at hand.
Boucher also claimed she was a mother who needed to get something for her daughter.
“I’m not resisting arrest; I just want to make sure my daughter gets what she needs,” she said.
According to the New York Post, Boucher was charged with resisting arrest without violence, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, touch or strike, refusal to submit to DUI testing, DUI, and DUI damage of property. These are allegations, and Boucher is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.
She was booked and released from jail on August 31 and is reportedly scheduled to return to court on October 21.
The episode is a pretty spectacular reminder of why driving while intoxicated is treated seriously. A parked sedan and somebody’s lawn can be repaired. Had a person been sitting inside that vehicle, standing in the yard, or walking nearby, this story could have ended with something considerably worse than an embarrassing video and a collection of criminal charges.
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