Tesla employee arrested on DUI charge after flying across creek, crashing Model 3

MORGAN HILL >> A Tesla employee was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving after he missed a turn in Morgan Hill in a Tesla Model 3, then flew across Coyote Creek and crashed into the far bank, leaving the car partially underwater, police said.

Colin Flynn, 38, was charged with DUI and obstructing the work of a police officer, after he allegedly crashed the car while intoxicated and refused to provide any kind of sample for an alcohol test without talking to a lawyer first, said Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Troy Hoefling.

“He failed to negotiate a turn. He just went straight, hit a metal sign, and then launched over the creek into the embankment on the other side, and hit a tree there,” Hoefling said Tuesday.

Flynn of Santa Cruz had been driving alone, eastbound on Cochrane Road near Malaguerra Avenue when the crash occurred around 3:45 a.m. Saturday, Hoefling said, adding that the Model 3 came to rest partially submerged in the creek, about 60 to 70 feet from Cochrane Road. Flynn was not injured, Hoefling said.

Police confirmed that Flynn was a Tesla employee. A Colin Flynn, identifying as a Tesla associate manager of home-charging installation, has used a Tesla company email address to answer a question asked on a Model 3-related online forum. Google search results show basic information from a LinkedIn profile that’s been taken down for a Colin Flynn with the same job description, who is located in Santa Cruz.

Requests for comment Tuesday to the Tesla email address and phone number listed for Colin Flynn in the online forum received no response. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police could not confirm whether the Model 3 — Palo Alto electric car maker Tesla’s delay-plagued bid for the mass market — belonged to Flynn or the company.

People have no right to refuse a driving-underthe-influence test before speaking with a lawyer, which led to the charge of obstructing police in performing duties, Hoefling said. Police had to obtain a search warrant to get a blood sample from Flynn, Hoefling said, adding that the misdemeanor DUI charge related to alleged alcohol intoxication. Results of the blood test were not available, he said.

Flynn was taken to Santa Clara County Jail, and is likely to have been released, Hoefling said.

Police treated the accident scene with caution, out of concerns about the electric car’s battery and the creek environment, but no battery-related issues arose from the wreck, Hoefling said.

The accident occurred just a day after Tesla for the first time put the Model 3 on public display in a company showroom on Friday at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto and in Los Angeles, as part of a gradual rollout to showrooms nationwide.

Production of the Model 3, which starts at $35,000, has suffered significant delays, but Tesla now claims to have addressed bottlenecks and says it is successfully ramping up manufacturing of the car.