South Florida man drives SUV into crowd of Elon Musk protesters at Tesla store: deputies
A South Florida man plowed his SUV into a crowd of people protesting in front of a Palm Beach County Tesla dealership over the weekend, law enforcement officials said.
Around 2 p.m. Saturday, Palm Beach resident Andrew Dutil, 45, drove his black Nissan SUV on the curb of a sidewalk and into a group of protesters outside the dealership, 5544 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach, the sheriff’s office said. Protesters quickly moved out of the way to avoid being hit.
According to an arrest report, Karen Holland said a man in a black Nissan SUV drove by the dealership earlier in the day and yelled at her and the other protesters. The protesters were decrying the actions of Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, who has been instrumental in cutting back the federal government, leading to thousands of federal workers losing their jobs.
Holland told deputies if she hadn’t moved, she would have been hit.
Allison Beaumont also said if she had not run out of the way of the SUV, it would have struck her, according to the report.
Deputies spoke to a dealership employee who said Dutil walked inside hours before the incident to offer his support for Tesla.
Duvil was arrested and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail, the sheriff’s office said. He is facing one charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM.
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