- December 14, 2025
Three children jumped from a moving car because their drunken father’s driving was scaring them, according to a police report.
Dimitri Nicholas, 41, is visiting Palm Coast from Ohio. He was taking his two 9-year-old girls and one 11-year-old boy to get something to eat at around 4 p.m. Monday when the children became afraid because he seemed confused and was driving erratically, accelerating and decelerating frequently and swerving off the roadway, the children later told deputies.
When Nicholas slowed the vehicle, the three children leapt from the car. The 11-year-old boy sustained a small cut on his leg from the jump.
Nicholas left the children in the roadway after they jumped out of the vehicle. They walked to a nearby house and used a resident’s phone to call for help.
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Gerald Ditolla arrived at the house where Nicholas was staying, where the children and Nicholas’s ex-girlfriend were present. His former girlfriend said she had received several phone calls from Nicholas. He was slurring his speech, she said, so she could tell he had been drinking. After the calls from Nicholas, the ex-girlfriend also received a call from one of Nicholas’ daughters, who was crying as she explained what happened.
Nicholas did not return as Ditolla investigated the scene and spoke to Nicholas’ ex-girlfriend and children. Calls to his cell phone went unanswered. The deputy contacted the Department of Children and Families and left them in custody with a person whose name has been redacted from the arrest report.
The deputy and the children left the residence at about 7:20 p.m. Just before 8 p.m., dispatch learned that Nicholas returned to the premises, so Ditolla returned to the scene. When the he arrived, Ditolla saw Nicholas walking down the street and having difficulty maintain balance. As he approached, the Ditolla could smell alcohol on Nicholas’ breath.
Ditolla asked Nicholas if he knew where his kids were. Nicholas said they were in the house. The two walked to the front door of the house, which was ajar. There were no children inside.
Nicholas was arrested and charged with felony child neglect. He was transported to the Flagler County Inmate Facility and later released on $2,500 bail.
