Instagram influencer charged in fatal July 4th wreck on PCH ordered to wear an ankle monitor
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Lifestyle influencer Summer Wheaton has built a brand on Instagram around beauty product recommendations and faith-based positive affirmations.
On Monday, a superior court official ordered her to don an unattractive new accessory: an alcohol ankle monitor bracelet. The order was made in connection to the deadly car crash Wheaton is charged with causing when she collided with another driver on Pacific Coast Highway on July 4.
Wheaton, 33, did not speak during her court appearance, but her attorney, Elon Berk, entered a not-guilty plea to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and causing great bodily harm while intoxicated.
Court Commissioner Sarah Ellenberg ordered Wheaton to register for a SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) ankle bracelet device within the next two days. Wheaton also was ordered to return to court at the end of April for a preliminary hearing. She remains out on bail after posting a $230,000 bond.
The charges stem from a Fourth of July party at Nobu Malibu last year. Wheaton left the party in Malibu and was driving 81 mph when she collided head-on with a vehicle driven by ride-hail driver Martin Okeke.
The party’s guest list included Wiz Khalifa, Tom Sandoval, Mike Tyson, Lonzo Ball and other celebrities. Wheaton was among the throngs of people at the “Red, White and Bootsy” party, according to prosecutors and a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Okeke’s family.
Erin Hughes, owner of a Malibu mansion that burned Jan. 17, 2021, filed a $100-million lawsuit four years to the day of the blaze. She is suing her home’s renter, Tripadvisor, Flipkey LLC and Holiday Lettings Limited for breach of contract, negligence and unfair business practices.
Just before arriving at the party, Wheaton posted a photo of herself and a guest in her 2019 Mercedes-Benz.
Though she she arrived with a guest, Wheaton left alone, with a blood alcohol level of 0.10%, according to court records. The legal limit is 0.08%.
Okeke was traveling with a teenage passenger in his vehicle when Wheaton crossed the center divider and crashed into his vehicle. Okeke died in the crash; his passenger survived.
A civil suit filed by Okeke’s family names as defendants Wheaton, Nobu Malibu, the Hwood Group LLC and DBDJ LLC, the groups who hosted the event. Okeke’s family claims that Wheaton was hired to attend the party on PCH and was “expected to consume intoxicants.”
An attorney for Nobu denied in December that Wheaton was hired or contracted by the restaurant.
Less than a week before the party, Malibu city officials rescinded the permit for the event, citing concerns about traffic and safety. Despite the rescinded permit, the Fourth of July party went on.
Attorneys for Nobu previously told The Times that the city’s decision to rescind the permit was unfounded and that the restaurant abided by the city’s initial conditions for the permit, including an agreement that guests would be shuttled to the event and that there would be no on-site parking.
Three people — Soren Dixon, 19, Jack Nelson, 20, and Krysta Tsukahara, 19 — suffered major burns and blunt force trauma and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Wheaton, however, drove herself to the party, according to the lawsuit.
While the crash took place in the summer of 2024, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not present the case to the district attorney’s office until October. Prosecutors requested additional information from sheriff’s investigators and the case was filed Feb. 10.
Wheaton curtailed her postings to social media after the crash, but seven days after being charged in the case, she posted a video where she discussed her faith without directly mentioning the fatal crash.
“You may not believe this but your miracle is right on the other side of your lowest moment,” she said in a video posted to Instagram on Feb. 17. “I know that sounds crazy to say but I’ve experienced it.”
Times staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
