- December 14, 2025
For the second time in as many days, the vehicle of a drunk driver has collided with a Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputy’s patrol car, according to a Sheriff’s Office release.
In Thursday’s incident, shortly before 11 p.m., a 22-year-old Palm Coast woman backed her car into Deputy Fred Gimbel’s patrol car on State Road 100, near Landings Boulevard. Gimbel had stopped Karolyn Harris after observing her driving erratically as her vehicle was eastbound on State Road 100.
The deputy reported that as soon as he activated his emergency lights, Harris’ vehicle jerked to the left and returned to the lane before pulling onto the shoulder. From there, Gimbel exited his patrol car to talk with Harris.
“As soon as I opened my door, the vehicle put (her) rear lights on and began to slowly come at my vehicle. I entered my vehicle and quickly had to put my vehicle in reverse, but before I could engage the shifter to reverse ... the vehicle slightly bumped into my patrol vehicle’s push bumper,” Gimbel wrote in his report.
Neither vehicle sustained damage, according to the report.
Harris, of the U-section, was arrested for driving under the influence after she failed several field sobriety tests. She was released from the Flagler County Inmate Facility after posting $150 bond on the charge.
Just 24 hours prior, a 45-year-old Palm Coast woman clipped the open door of a Sheriff’s Office patrol car that was involved in a traffic stop on Palm Harbor Parkway.
“Often, people forget that these deputies — your neighbors and friends — put their lives on the line every day that they put on their uniform,” Sheriff Donald Fleming said in a statement. “These are traffic incidents that could have been avoided if some common sense had been used by the drivers — don’t drink and drive.”
