(CAPE CORAL, Fla.) — On Sunday, May 3, 2026, at approximately 5:45 PM, officers with the Cape Coral Police Department responded to the 2000 block of NE 34th Lane in reference to a report of a man who exited his vehicle and fell into a canal. Callers told dispatch they saw a driver get out of a car, disappear around the driver’s side, then heard a splash and believed he had entered the canal.
Upon arrival, officers located a vehicle crashed into bushes with front-end damage and a damaged passenger-side windshield. Fresh slide marks were visible in the dirt along the embankment leading down to the canal. Officers noted the ground on the passenger side of the vehicle was undisturbed, with no footprints in the soft dirt. A witness reported the driver was not wearing a shirt and was in blue shorts.
An officer on the opposite side of the canal was flagged down by a neighbor who reported seeing a shirtless white male in blue shorts, appearing wet, running toward a wooded area. The officer located the individual at the intersection of NE 34th Terrace and NE 20th Avenue and identified him as Jacob Blasses (DOB 01/10/1990). He was shirtless, wearing wet blue shorts, and had scratches on his legs, a large scrape on his back, and a cut on his left forearm consistent with moving through brush along the embankment.
While speaking with Blasses, officers observed slurred speech, bloodshot, watery, glassy eyes, and difficulty maintaining balance. A witness positively identified him as the driver of the crashed vehicle. Blasses was treated on scene by Lee County EMS for his lacerations.
During the crash investigation, officers determined Blasses had swerved off the roadway, struck a mailbox, and then crashed into bushes and trees near the canal. Video evidence confirmed the vehicle struck the mailbox with the passenger-side front windshield, causing the observed damage. The mailbox then struck a parked vehicle in a driveway, causing minor damage.
Blasses was advised he was the subject of a DUI investigation and agreed to perform Standard Field Sobriety Exercises.
Based on the investigation, Blasses was placed under arrest for DUI. He agreed to provide a breath sample, which returned results of .219 and .209.
A search of the vehicle revealed an empty Smirnoff vodka bottle under the passenger seat, an empty Tito’s vodka bottle on the passenger floorboard, and a BeatBox (11% alcohol) behind the driver’s seat.
Jacob Blasses (DOB 01/10/1990) was transported to the Lee County Jail and charged with the following:
- 1 count of DUI (0.15 or higher)
- 1 count of Hit and Run
- 2 counts of DUI with Property Damage
Blasses’s vehicle after it crashed into the bushes
Mailbox Blasses hit with his vehicle
Smirnoff Vodka located in Blasses’s vehicle
Tito’s Vodka bottle located in Blasses’s vehicle
BeatBox (11% alcohol) bottle located in Blasses’s vehicle