A Florida woman faces multiple charges after allegedly crashing an SUV into a parked vehicle with such force that it sent the car across a lawn, then telling investigating officers she believed they were friends in a bizarre attempt to avoid arrest.
Dramatic Crash Caught on Camera
Surveillance footage released by the Daytona Beach Police Department shows an SUV slamming into a parked Honda on August 30, sending the vehicle completely off the roadway. Elizabeth Boucher, 24, offered police a markedly different account when questioned. “I guess I hit the front light of those cars, but I don’t know what really happened,” she told officers in bodycam footage. An officer quickly corrected her mischaracterization of the collision, stating “You didn’t just hit the front of the car. You just took the car completely off.”
The encounter grew more unusual when Boucher handed officers her passport instead of a driver’s license when asked for identification. She repeatedly pleaded with police not to arrest her, at one point referencing a vape and insisting “It didn’t even work.” As the investigation progressed from a civil crash to a criminal DUI case, Boucher invoked what she apparently believed was a personal relationship with the responding officers.
Refused Testing and Additional Charges
Officers read Boucher her Miranda rights after determining the incident warranted criminal investigation. She declined to perform field sobriety exercises and refused a formal breath test, according to bodycam video. The situation escalated beyond the traffic incident when the owner of the damaged vehicle told police that Boucher had confronted and slapped her after the crash. When asked if Boucher had made physical contact, the victim indicated she wanted to press charges for being struck in the face.
Boucher expressed concern for her daughter during the arrest process and told officers she was not resisting. At one point, an officer instructed her to lean against a vehicle “so you don’t fall.” After being placed under arrest, Boucher appeared confused about standard procedures, asking why she was sitting alone with nothing happening. An officer explained that waiting is typical when someone is arrested.
Multiple Charges Filed
Authorities charged Boucher with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, DUI involving property damage or injury to another person, refusing DUI testing, battery by touching or striking, resisting an officer without violence, and possessing a controlled substance without a prescription. She was released from jail on August 31 and has entered a not guilty plea to all charges, according to court records. No attorney for Boucher could be immediately identified for comment on the pending case.