FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. – A 29-year-old woman from Palm Coast was arrested early Saturday, accused of drunken driving in a crash with three law enforcement units that were conducting a traffic stop in Flagler Beach, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred around 2:20 a.m. along State Road 100, east of Connecticut Avenue, troopers said.
According to a crash report, the woman — later identified as Taylor Kelly — failed to move over for the emergency vehicles as the front right of the SUV she was driving first swiped the left side of a marked SUV stopped on the side of the roadway, then the left side of a marked pickup truck in front of the marked SUV. The impact sent the pickup forward, striking the rear of the third unit at the traffic stop, another marked SUV, troopers said.
The drivers of the pickup truck and of the first SUV to be struck were standing outside of their vehicles and weren’t hurt in the wreck while the driver of the third unit — a 36-year-old Bunnell man — was inside of that SUV during the crash and was hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries, the report states. Troopers said that he was wearing a seat belt.
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Kelly was not hurt in the crash and neither was her passenger, a 37-year-old Flagler Beach man, both of whom were also wearing seat belts, troopers said.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Kelly was arrested at the scene by troopers and taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility where she has since bonded out.
In addition to a DUI charge, she faces four counts of DUI causing property damage, records show.
“This crash could have ended much worse. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 56 law enforcement officers were killed in traffic-related incidents in 2022, including 16 struck-by fatalities, which often occur while officers are investigating motor vehicle crashes or assisting motorists on the side of the road,” read, in part, a social media post by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
News 6 heard back from Flagler Beach police Chief Matt Doughney that the crash involved two Flagler Beach police vehicles — the pickup truck and the SUV that it rear-ended — as well as one Flagler County Sheriff’s Office vehicle. Doughney said in a statement that the officer who was hurt in the crash was experiencing back pain.
Note: Due to the information provided, this map depicts the general area of this crash and not necessarily its exact location.
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