Los Angeles-based influencer arrested in connection with fatal car crash
A Los Angeles-based influencer turned herself in to authorities on Monday after a warrant for her arrest was issued in connection to a car accident that killed a 44-year-old man last year.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department booked Summer Wheaton, 33, on suspicion of manslaughter and drunk driving, according to LASD records. She was released at around 3:30 p.m. local time on Monday after posting a bond of $230,000.
Wheaton was named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in December by the family of Martin Okeke, who died on July 4, 2024, after he was struck by a vehicle on the Pacific Coast Highway.
Okeke's family alleges that Wheaton was hired to attend a party at the restaurant Nobu Malibu, located on the PCH, and was 'expected to consume intoxicants.' The suit, which also named Nobu Malibu, the Hwood Group LLC and DBDJ LLC as defendants, alleges that the restaurant had not received the proper city permits to hold the party and 'were not complying with the City's plans to control for the danger of drunk driving.'
Wheaton faces charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, causing great bodily injury and driving under the influence with .08% alcohol, causing great bodily injury, LASD said.
Direct messages sent to Wheaton on Instagram and through her website were not immediately returned. It is unclear whether Wheaton has an attorney.
Attorneys for Okeke's family did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Representatives for Nobu Malibu, the Hwood Group LLC and DBDJ LLC. also did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The event at Nobu was supposed to be attended only by people who were being given rides by secondary parties, such as ride shares or limousines, according to the Okeke family's suit. However, Wheaton drove herself from the party in violation of the event's rules, the suit states.
Wheaton 'failed to keep a proper lookout, drove at an excessive speed, and made an unsafe lane change, causing a head-on collision,' according to the suit.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times in December, an attorney for Nobu denied that Wheaton was hired or contracted by the restaurant and said that the restaurant abided by the city's initial conditions for the permit.
Okeke's family requested a full jury trial and is seeking damages 'without limitation.'
Wheaton, who makes content about travel, fashion and faith for her 101,000 followers on Instagram, has not publicly addressed the crash. But in a video posted to her Instagram page in December, she reflected on how 'the last few months have been hard.'
'You know that feeling when life seems like it's all falling apart, but somehow it's a start of something really beautiful?' she said. 'Well, that was me.'
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