\ud83d\udcc4This article was primarily reported using public records requests. We are making it available to all readers as a public service. FOIA reporting can be expensive, please consider subscribing to 404 Media to support this work. Or send us a one time donation via our tip jar here.On Monday a man in Grapevine, Texas drove his Tesla Cybertruck into a lake to test the vehicle\u2019s \u201cwade mode.\u201d Police arrested the Cybertruck\u2019s owner, Jimmy Jack McDaniel, after he and his passengers fled the vehicle.\u00a0At one point, the owner tried to get back into the vehicle, and law enforcement responded by deploying jet skis and calling a tow truck to pull the Cybertruck from the water, according to hours of related footage 404 Media obtained. The passengers were German tourists, according to a conversation included in the bodycam footage.\u201cThe charge port is underwater and it [the Cybertruck] thinks it\u2019s plugged in to the charging unit and it won\u2019t let the wheels turn because it thinks it\u2019s charging. And as soon as I can get it a little bit closer to the ground I can drive it out,\u201d McDaniel said during a conversation with a police officer.<\/p>\n
0:00<\/p>\n
\/0:59<\/p>\n
1\u00d7<\/p>\n
A cut of the footage obtained by 404 Media. Image: 404 Media.
\n \u201cWell the wrecker company\u2019s going to tow it out,\u201d the officer said.McDaniel then explained this was the third time he\u2019d gotten the Cybertruck stuck in water. \u201cThe third time you\u2019ve done this?\u201d the officer asked.\u201cYes,\u201d McDaniel said.\u201cWhy?\u201d the police asked.The start of McDaniel\u2019s answer is lost as wind blows across the bodycam\u2019s mic. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said, then insisted he could drive it once it was out of the water.404 Media obtained the footage from the Grapevine Police Department through a public records request. Officials from the local fire department are also visible in the footage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vehicle became disabled and took on water. The driver and passengers abandoned the vehicle and the Grapevine Fire Department Water Rescue Team assisted in removing it from the lake. The driver was arrested on charges of Operation of Vehicle in [a] Closed Section of Park\/Lake and numerous water safety equipment violations,\u201d the Grapevine Police Department said in a statement published earlier in the week.According to Tesla\u2019s website, Wade Mode is designed to allow the Cybertruck to \u201center and drive through bodies of water, such as rivers or creeks. It is your responsibility to gauge the depth of any body of water before entering. Damage or water ingress to Cybertruck as a result of driving in water is not covered by the warranty.\u201d The maximum depth a Cybertruck can navigate is a little more than 2 and a half feet, according to the website. Grapevine Lake, where the incident took place, has segments that go down 65 feet deep.<\/p>\n
The Grapevine Lake incident is just the latest in a series of high profile mishaps involving the Cybertruck. Last summer, a Cybertruck in self-driving mode crashed on an highway overpass near Austin, Texas. In 2024, a Cybetruck got stuck attempting to ford a river in California and had to be pulled out by a Chevy Silverado.Before they arrested McDaniel, officers explained all the licenses and equipment he needed to legally take a craft into the water. \u201cI wasn\u2019t\u00a0 thinking about that,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously I wasn\u2019t thinking at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"