Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies made 30 arrests over the weekend of July 18-19, according to a news release from the agency. Between 6 p.m. Friday, July 17, and 6 a.m. Monday, July 20, deputies handled 899 calls for service and made 141 traffic stops.
Palm Coast Man Arrested for DUI After Wrong-Way Driving and Hit-and-Run Crash
Early Saturday morning, deputies arrested a Palm Coast man for driving under the influence after he left the scene of a crash and was found driving the wrong way on Palm Coast Parkway.
Shortly before 2 a.m., a deputy saw a black Chevrolet pickup traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of Palm Coast Parkway near the Interstate 95 overpass, heading directly toward the deputy’s patrol vehicle. The deputy stopped the truck and found major front-end damage and red paint transfer that appeared to match a red vehicle that had just been reported struck in a hit-and-run crash with injuries on State Road 100.
Deputies identified the driver as David Vlassis, 46, of Palm Coast, who was standing unsteady outside the truck and repeatedly apologizing. Deputies said his speech was slurred, he swayed as he stood, and his eyes were red and glossy. Vlassis agreed to field sobriety exercises that showed multiple signs of impairment, and later provided two breath samples of .220 and .219 — nearly three times the legal limit of .08.
Sheriff Rick Staly commented on the arrest. “There is no excuse for getting behind the wheel while drunk. This driver was so impaired he was going the wrong way on the parkway and could have struck our deputy or anyone else head-on after already leaving the scene of a crash with injuries,” Staly said. “He is lucky he didn’t kill someone.”
Deputies arrested Vlassis for driving under the influence with damage to person or property and for leaving the scene of a crash involving injury. He was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and later released on $3,500 bond.
Palm Coast Man Arrested for Violating an Injunction
On Sunday afternoon, deputies arrested a Palm Coast man for repeatedly violating an injunction after a grocery store employee reported that a man appeared to be keeping a woman from leaving in her vehicle.
Deputies responded to the Publix on Belle Terre Parkway shortly after 4 p.m. after an employee reported that a man had been standing at a woman’s driver’s side door for about 30 minutes and would not let her leave. When deputies arrived, they found Andrew Briedis, 28, of Palm Coast, leaning into the open driver’s doorway, and could hear the woman repeatedly saying “no.”
When a deputy asked what was happening, Briedis first said the two were only talking. He then said the woman was telling him no because he was licking her, and told deputies he was “playing around” and thought doing so would get a reaction to see if she would, in his words, “engage,” while she told him to stop and get away. Briedis said the two had previously been in a relationship.
Deputies confirmed Briedis was the subject of an active injunction protecting the woman from him, which prohibited any contact and barred him from going near her, her home, her workplace, or her vehicle. Briedis acknowledged he knew about the injunction and was not allowed to contact her, and admitted he had been in contact with her almost every week, violating the order before. This was not his first violation — Briedis was arrested for violating the same order in March 2026, and a separate violation was reported in June 2026, though deputies were unable to locate him at that time.
Sheriff Staly also commented on this arrest. “A judge ordered this man to stay away from his victim, and he has thumbed his nose at that order again and again,” Staly said. “His ‘playing around’ is criminal and it is extremely creepy. He can ‘play around’ in a cell at the Green Roof Inn.”
Deputies arrested Briedis for violation of an injunction. He was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where he was being held with no bond.
The Sheriff’s Office noted that resources are available for victims of domestic violence. In an emergency, residents should always call 911. To report a violation or reach the Sheriff’s Office, residents can call the non-emergency line at 386-313-4911, or the Family Life Center’s 24-hour domestic violence helpline at 386-437-3505.
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