The Bachelor alum Melissa Rycroft has been arrested on suspicion of DWI after allegedly hitting an ambulance and leaving the scene in Texas.
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According to a Southlake Police Department press release, officers responded at about 5:50PM on Saturday, October 31, to a hit-and-run involving a fire department ambulance. The ambulance was stopped at a stop sign when another vehicle allegedly struck it and left the scene, People reported.
Officers later found the other vehicle's driver and identified her as Melissa, police said. She was charged with DWI, second offense, driving with an invalid license and causing an accident involving more than $200 in vehicle damage. No one was injured.
Melissa, 43, was booked into the Keller Jail on Sunday, November 1. Her bond was set at $9,000, according to jail records obtained by People. TMZ was first to report the arrest.
The new charges follow a separate crash in September 2025.
Southlake police reportedly said Melissa was arrested after her Cadillac Escalade struck a tree.
Witnesses had reported seeing the vehicle being driven erratically before the crash, but no other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.
Melissa broke her silence on the arrest and shared on Instagram in October 2025, "Life really sucks right now and I'm struggling, but I'm trying to march forward...but thank you for the sweet words in what seems like a world of negativity."
She pleaded guilty to DWI in August 2026 and received 20 months of probation instead of jail time. She was also ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and court costs, complete 36 hours of community service, take a DWI education course and undergo a substance abuse evaluation.
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Her probation conditions included abstaining from alcohol and illegal drugs, using a camera-equipped ignition interlock device in her vehicle and submitting to drug and alcohol testing.
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On The Bachelor's 13th season in 2009, Jason Mesnick proposed marriage to the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and the pair got engaged.
However, Jason dumped Melissa on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose in favor of his runner-up -- and now wife -- Molly Malaney.
Melissa then quickly entered into a new relationship and reunited with former boyfriend Tye Strickland, whom she had previously dated on and off after meeting three years earlier. The couple subsequently got engaged in June 2009 and wed in December of that year.
After her rejection by Jason, Melissa also accepted an offer to join Dancing with the Stars' Spring 2009 season as a last-minute replacement for injured Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O'Dell. She finished the competition in third place behind Gilles Marini and eventual champ Shawn Johnson.
Melissa returned for Dancing with the Stars: All Stars in 2012, and she won the season.
Melissa and Tye share three children together. In addition to Ava, 15, Melissa also gave birth to son Beckett, 12, and son Cayson, 10.
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Melissa and Tye briefly starred on a reality show of their own titled Melissa & Tye on CMT in 2012.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
