Gainesville man charged with driving intoxicated after crashing into parked car and rolling a car he had borrowed

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kellis Tyshon Carmen, 25, was arrested early this morning after allegedly crashing into a parked car while driving under the influence of alcohol and rolling the borrowed car he was driving onto its roof.

At about 1:28 a.m. on April 1, a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officer responded to the 1000 block of NW 10th Avenue, where a silver car was found on its roof and a parked car had been hit with enough force that it had been pushed over the raised curb, causing disabling damage to the car. The driver allegedly fled the scene of the crash.

The officer contacted the registered owner of the vehicle, who said she had allowed Carmen to drive her car; she said Carmen had come to her apartment and told her he had crashed her car. She reportedly called Carmen from her phone, and the officer spoke to him briefly; Carmen told the officer he was “in the neighborhood,” admitted to crashing the car, and came out of a nearby apartment building a few minutes later.

The officer noted that Carmen’s eyes were red and watery, and he could smell alcohol on Carmen’s breath.

Post Miranda, Carmen reportedly admitted to crashing the car and said he’d had to swerve to avoid a vehicle driving in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed; he said that when he swerved, he hit the curb, which caused the car to flip. He said he was only driving 20-30 mph and was unaware that he had hit a parked car; the officer noted that he did not believe this statement, given the extent of the damage to the vehicles.

Carmen reportedly said he left the scene of the crash because his phone was dead and he wanted to tell the car’s owner that he had crashed her car; he said he charged his phone at the car owner’s residence and reportedly could not explain why he had not called law enforcement after his phone came back on.

Carmen reportedly denied drinking any alcoholic beverages, but he said he had smoked marijuana a couple of hours before the crash.

He reportedly performed poorly on field sobriety exercises and was arrested for driving under the influence.

At GPD Headquarters, Carmen reportedly said, “I’m high. I know I’m high”; he said he would tell the judge the same thing and that he would not stop smoking marijuana. His breath samples reportedly measured 0.114 g/210L and 0.113 g/210L, above the legal limit of 0.08 g/210L. The officer noted that because his breath test showed that he had alcohol in his blood, a urine sample for drugs was not collected, although Carmen said he had smoked marijuana.

Carmen has been charged with hit and run with damage to unattended property and DUI with property damage. He has juvenile convictions between 2014 and 2016, two adult felony convictions (two violent), and three misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he has served one state prison sentence and was released in February 2025.

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.