Man accused of driving drunk, causing wrong-way Volusia County crash

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Deltona man was arrested on DUI charges Sunday after deputies said he caused a wrong-way crash in Volusia County.

Volusia County deputies said Nathan Zacharias, 27, crashed into an oncoming vehicle and narrowly missed several others around 12:30 a.m. Sunday on International Speedway Boulevard near Daytona Beach.

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Deputies said two people involved in the crash were transported to the hospital for treatment of injuries and that their vehicle sustained heavy damage and was inoperable.

Investigators said it was evident that Zacharias was impaired but not injured. Deputies said his fine motor skills were diminished, his speech was slurred, his eyes were glassy and bloodshot, he was unsteady on his feet and he smelled heavily of an alcoholic beverage.

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Deputies said there were also several open and unopened beer cans on the floor of his car.

At the time of the crash, Zacharias’ driver’s license was restricted to business purposes only due to a prior DUI in August 2021.

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When deputies asked Zacharias how the crash occurred, he said he was on his way home to Deltona, even though he was driving east toward Daytona Beach, when a deer caused him to swerve into the other vehicle.

While being transported in the deputy’s patrol vehicle, the deputy said Zacharias became verbally abusive and made use of racial slurs several times.

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“He further stated that the deputy should die, and that he should be hanged,” deputies said in a news release.

Zacharias is charged with three counts of DUI with damage to persons or property, failure to obey driver’s license restrictions, refusal to submit to DUI testing, and making a threat against a law enforcement officer.

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