Man arrested for DUI, property damage after hit-and-run crash

(September 3, 2024) — On August 31, 2024, at around 1:45 AM, officers with the Cape Coral Police Department responded to a hit-and-run crash in the 4000 block of Coronado Parkway.

The reporting party said she was asleep when she heard a loud noise that sounded like a crash. When she went outside, she saw a car with heavy damage in a parking lot near where she lived. When she approached, she said she saw a young white man in a white t-shirt standing in the driver’s side doorway. She approached the man to speak with him and said he appeared impaired. As Cape Coral Police officers were arriving, she said the man became alarmed and started running north from the crash site. The caller said she came outside immediately after the crash and did not see anyone else on scene.

Moments before the crash, another officer with the Cape Coral Police Department was in the 900 block of SE 47th Terrace when he saw a blue Dodge Challenger peel out and drive west on SE 47th Terrace. He noticed the driver was speeding and failed to stop at two stop signs before reaching Coronado Parkway and driving north. The officer noticed as the vehicle drove past that the driver was wearing a white t-shirt.

A check of the vehicle information revealed the owner to be Aaron Olmstead.

The vehicle on scene of the crash had heavy front-end damage, and debris was all over the southbound lanes of Coronado Parkway. Officers searched the immediate area and found Olmstead walking south on the sidewalk of Coronado Parkway and SE 43rd Street. Olmstead was wearing a white t-shirt, had a minor abrasion to his forehead, and complained of pain in his left wrist. The reporting party confirmed Olmstead was the person she saw at the crash scene. Officers noticed Olmstead had bloodshot, watery eyes and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. He also had slurred speech.

Officers noticed tire tracks moving northbound on the asphalt median of Coronado Parkway, which lined up perfectly with where the suspect vehicle went off the road, struck the curb, damaged the grass and landscaping, and hit pipes that control median irrigation. The damage continued across the southbound lanes of Coronado Parkway until the vehicle came to rest in the parking lot at 4000 Coronado Parkway. There was an estimated $3,000 in property damage because of the crash. Officers noticed the seatbelts for the driver and front seat passenger were fully retracted and locked, which is a sign that the seatbelts were not being used at the time of the crash.

Officers informed Olmstead they would be changing hats from a crash investigation to a DUI investigation. Olmstead’s breath samples showed a BAC of .163 and .152.