- March 28, 2024
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An Ormond Beach police officer deployed his stun gun on an intoxicated fleeing teen Friday night, after she crashed her car into fences, air conditioning units and a home.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
Ray Seymour was sitting on his couch, watching a ballgame, when he heard a loud noise. He wasn’t sure what it was, so he yelled out to his wife. That's when he saw headlights shining through his living room.
A car had crashed through his back patio and rammed into his house.
Amber L. Fazal, 19, of Daytona Beach, was arrested at approximately 10:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, and charged with, among other things, driving under the influence and resisting arrest without violence, when she blew more than twice the legal limit, .182 and .175, after attempting to flee from the scene of the crash, as well as from police.
Fazal crashed her two-door Honda into the fences, screened patios, bushes and air conditioning units of several homes on Arbor Lake Park, before colliding into Seymour’s air conditioning unit, fence and attached utility shed, which finally brought her car to a stop.
Although the car never broke through into the interior of Seymour's home, the exterior tells a different story. The scene behind his and his neighbors’ homes looks as if a hurricane swept through the area, as pieces of shredded fences and bushes are sectioned off by caution tape.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Charlene Solomon, Seymour’s wife. “And I really hope to never see it again.”
When Seymour looked out his back door, he said Fazal’s car was shut off, but she was trying to restart the engine.
He ran outside and got into his car to block Fazal in, so she couldn’t keep driving. At this point, neighbors had made their way outside and were trying to convince Fazal to stop.
But Fazal didn't stop. She turned on the ignition and struck Seymour’s car as she sped away, he said, driving on a wheel rim and running over a small palm tree before turning onto Nova Road. He followed suit.
“As soon as I got on Granada (Boulevard), I heard sirens,” he said. “I pulled over and she traveled towards (Old) Tomoka (Road).”
Those sirens came from an Ormond Beach Police Officer, who saw Fazal’s car, which the officer described as “weaving” all over the road. The officer turned on his sirens and attempted to make a traffic stop.
The officer said Fazal tried to turn off Granada Boulevard to Old Tomoka Road, when she struck a curb and continued to drive, before running over some hedge’s at the Tomoka United Methodist Church, 1000 Old Tomoka Rd., where the vehicle finally came to a stop.
But Fazal kept going.
Police say she then got out of her car and fled on foot, but the officer deployed his stun gun and took her into custody.
Seymour and Solomon were without water until about 2 a.m. Saturday, they said, and are still without air conditioning. They’re in the process of receiving estimates for all the damage, which they said is already more than $14,000.
Fazal's passenger, Manali Parekh, 18, of Ormond Beach, was uninjured and remained at the scene when Fazal ran, according reports. She provided a statement to officers and was released without being charged.
Fazal’s criminal record includes charges of aggravated child abuse and assault.
She was charged with DUI, resisting an officer without violence and driving with license suspended, in addition to being issued traffic citations for careless driving and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.
The article was updated at 8:48 a.m., Jan. 29.