A rollover crash on US-41 near West Terry Street in Bonita Springs sent a Tesla driver to the hospital and ended with a 55-year-old Oklahoma man under arrest on multiple DUI-related charges. Deputies say a GMC Yukon crossed into the Tesla's lane, clipping it near the right rear corner panel before both vehicles spun out of control.
According to Gulf Coast News and Weather, the crash involved a 2026 GMC Yukon and a 2022 Tesla, and serious injuries were reported. The Yukon overturned on the roadway. The Tesla, meanwhile, veered off US-41 and slammed into a tree, knocking it to the ground.
The Tesla driver was taken to the hospital because of injuries suffered in the crash, the outlet reports. A passenger in the GMC Yukon, along with other witnesses, identified Jimmie Alvin Chappell as the person who had been driving the SUV at the time of impact.
Hours at a Bar Before the Crash
The same passenger told deputies that the group had spent roughly four to five hours at an establishment before the crash, the station's report states. She also said the group later went somewhere else, where alcoholic beverages were reportedly consumed. Chappell himself was hospitalized following the wreck.
Per the same account, medical staff reported that Chappell's blood alcohol concentration measured 0.254, more than three times the legal limit for driving in Florida. Deputies accused him of smelling of alcohol, having bloodshot and watery eyes, and slurring his speech. The arrest report further states that Chappell did not provide a blood sample or a breath sample.
Charges and Road Closure
A booking listing from leefl.mugshots.zone shows Chappell, identified there as a 55-year-old Oklahoma man, was booked in Lee County on Saturday. That listing cites charges including DUI with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 or higher, DUI causing serious bodily injury to another, DUI causing property or personal injury damage, and refusal to submit to DUI testing. Those charge descriptions come from the booking listing itself, not from a court record reviewed for this story.
Chappell was arrested after being accused of DUI following the crash, and he has since bonded out, the article notes. He is now facing the multiple DUI-related charges outlined in the booking listing. The rollover crash had closed the northbound lanes of US-41 at West Terry Street in Bonita Springs the night it happened, a disruption for drivers along the busy corridor.
