A driver in a Toyota C-HR was arrested on suspicion of DUI after police pulled him over for driving with an entire wheel missing from his vehicle, according to footage released by KTLA 5.
Officers stopped the silver crossover around 5:13 a.m. after spotting sparks coming from the front of the car as it traveled down the road in the dark. Video shows the vehicle dragging metal against the pavement, throwing off a steady stream of sparks before it came to a stop along a curb near a patrol car.
An officer approached the driver’s window and told him sparks were shooting out from his car. The driver responded with surprise and said he was coming back from the grocery store. When asked what had happened to the vehicle, he said nothing had happened. The officer then asked if the driver knew what time it was without checking a watch, telling him it was 5:13 in the morning, and followed by asking how much alcohol he had consumed. The driver answered, “Just a little bit.”
Inspection and Arrest
Police asked the driver to step out of the car and walked him to the front passenger side, where the wheel and tire assembly were completely gone. The vehicle was resting on the bare rim, with additional damage visible along the front quarter panel and lower bumper. The officer pointed to the missing wheel and asked, “Your whole wheel is gone. So what did you hit?” The driver responded, “I didn’t hit anything.”
The officer told the driver he had further questions and needed to conduct field sobriety testing. During a walking test on the sidewalk, the driver stumbled and had difficulty keeping his balance. Following the test, he was placed under arrest for driving under the influence. During the arrest, the officer told the driver he was almost two times over the legal limit.
Impaired Driving Remains a Persistent Danger
Cases like this one are a reminder of how common impaired driving incidents remain on American roads, even with decades of public awareness campaigns and stricter enforcement. Federal safety data has long shown that alcohol-impaired driving contributes to a significant share of traffic deaths in the United States each year.
What sets this stop apart is the degree of damage the vehicle sustained before officers intervened. A car missing an entire wheel is not something drivers typically fail to notice, and this incident is a striking example of how impairment can affect a driver’s awareness of even severe, unmistakable problems with their own vehicle.
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