A Port Charlotte man is facing a felony DUI charge after deputies say he crashed his Lexus into a vehicle carrying five people, including three children, at the intersection of State Road 776 and Flamingo Boulevard. Ryan O'Neal Patterson, whose driver's-license address is listed on Murdock Circle in Port Charlotte, registered a breath-alcohol level of .127 and a blood-alcohol level of .147, both above Florida's legal threshold of .08.
According to yoursun.com, Deputy Kayla Weihs found Patterson behind the wheel of the Lexus appearing dazed, with bloodshot, watery eyes, and slow to respond to questions. Patterson reportedly spoke with thick, slurred speech and told the deputy he knew he should not have been driving and that he had been drinking earlier, per the deputy's report. He failed a field sobriety test at the scene, the outlet reported.
Family of Five Caught in the Crash
The vehicle Patterson struck carried five people, including three children in the back seat, the report states. Daniel A. Hunt, 39, was transported to Gulf Coast Medical Center as a trauma alert, while Lindsay B. Hunt, 32, was taken for medical evaluation. Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers operates the only state-designated Level II Trauma Center along Florida's Gulf Coast between Sarasota and Miami, according to Lee Health, which is why a serious trauma case from Charlotte County would be routed there rather than a local community hospital.
Patterson was checked at AdventHealth Port Charlotte before being taken to the Charlotte County Jail, where he remained held without bond as of Thursday. AdventHealth Port Charlotte is a 247-bed acute care hospital with a 24-hour emergency department, according to AdventHealth. His booking address was listed on San Pablo Drive in Jacksonville. He is scheduled for arraignment on November 2 at the Charlotte County Justice Center in Punta Gorda.
Felony and Misdemeanor Charges Stack Up
Patterson was charged with DUI, five counts of DUI with property damage, and DUI with serious injury to another, the report notes. Driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony under Florida law, carrying up to five years in prison, five years of probation, a $5,000 fine, and a mandatory minimum three-year license revocation, according to the Florida Legislature.
Both of Patterson's test results are below the state's .15 enhanced-penalty threshold; a reading at or above .15 triggers first-offense fines between $1,000 and $2,000 and mandatory ignition interlock installation upon license reinstatement, per the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Florida law allows prosecutors to prove impaired driving either by showing a driver's normal faculties were affected by alcohol or by proving an unlawful breath- or blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher, giving them two separate paths to a conviction in cases like this one. Separately, an administrative license suspension typically takes effect immediately upon a DUI arrest, and drivers have just 10 days to request a hearing to contest it, according to attorney resources cited by Musca Law.
A Stretch of Road Under Safety Review
A separate Port Charlotte hit-and-run damaged a mailbox. SR 776 itself has been a focus of state safety planning: in February 2025, the Florida Department of Transportation District One presented proposed median opening modifications for the corridor aimed at reducing vehicular collisions, according to SWFLRoads.
Impaired driving remains a persistent problem statewide. Florida logged 4,529 alcohol-confirmed traffic collisions in 2025, down from 4,885 in 2024, per state crash data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Florida law also requires crash reporting in certain circumstances.
