Staff report

ARCHER, Fla. – Adam David Vandevelde, 32, was arrested early this morning after allegedly side-swiping another vehicle in Archer, sending the driver of that vehicle to the emergency room, and then leaving the scene. Vandevelde was reportedly impaired but refused to perform field sobriety exercises or take a breath test.

At about 11:35 p.m. last night, Vandevelde was reportedly driving a pickup truck east on SR 24 near the intersection with SW 143rd Street when it side-swiped a sedan traveling east, causing severe damage to the left side of both vehicles. Vandevelde reportedly continued driving, although the truck was missing its front left wheel, until he pulled over about 800 feet from the accident.

The driver of the sedan was transported to an emergency room, and Vandevelde allegedly fled on foot from where the pickup truck had stopped. Two Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies reportedly found him about half a mile east of the crash, walking on the footpath along SR 24.

Vandevelde is the registered owner of the pickup truck and reportedly had the keys in his pocket. He reportedly kept changing his story, first saying he had not been involved in a crash at all and then saying he had been run off the road. Deputies reported that he had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and that his eyes were red and bloodshot.

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Deputies transported Vandevelde to a safe place and asked him to perform field sobriety exercises, but he reportedly refused and said he wanted a breath test. However, he reportedly refused to take a breath test three times after arriving at the jail.

Vandevelde has been charged with driving under the influence with damage to property and leaving the scene of a crash with serious injury.

Vandevelde had a prior DUI in New Mexico in 2019 and has been in this area for three months. Judge Thomas Jaworski released him on his own recognizance to Court Services for alcohol abuse treatment and ordered that he be fitted with a transdermal alcohol monitoring device.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.