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Influencer Summer Wheaton has been arrested over her alleged involvement in an L.A. car crash that resulted in one fatality last year.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Wheaton was booked on numerous charges for the accident, which occurred on July 4, 2024, including gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, as reported by ABC 7 News and CBS News. She surrendered to the Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff’s station on Monday, Feb. 24.
The accident occurred last summer on July 4. Authorities say that the wellness and lifestyle guru — who boasts over 101,000 followers on Instagram — crashed into 44-year-old rideshare driver Martin Okeke on the Pacific Coast Highway. Okeke died in the collision.
At the time, several outlets including The Los Angeles Times and The Malibu Times alleged that Wheaton was at an evening event at Nobu restaurant before the accident happened around 10:30 p.m. The online personality’s Mercedes Benz was said to have crossed the highway’s center median and crashed into Okeke’s Cadillac SUV traveling in the opposite direction.
Wheaton and a passenger from the Cadillac were transported to UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center following the crash, per the outlets.
Last July, ABC affiliate KABC-TV reported that Nobu did not receive proper permitting before hosting the event. The outlet noted that city officials claimed they denied the permit as the restaurant’s owners did not comply with traffic and safety conditions. The Malibu Times reported that an attorney representing Nobu argued the city violated the business owner’s rights.
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At the time, neither Wheaton, the LASD attorney nor the Nobu attorney responded to PEOPLE’s request.
ABC 7 reports that Okeke’s family sued Wheaton months after the incident for the rideshare driver’s wrongful death. The family claimed that Wheaton was “severely intoxicated and impaired” when the fatal accident took place.
The sheriff’s department told the local ABC affiliate that Wheaton’s recent arrest followed a long investigation with an arrest warrant obtained by authorities.
