Particle methods can provide detailed descriptions of sea ice dynamics that explicitly model fracture and discontinuities in the ice, which are difficult to capture with traditional continuum approaches. We use the ParticLS software library to develop a discrete element method (DEM) model for sea ice dynamics at regional scales and smaller (<100 km). We model the sea ice as a collection of discrete rigid particles that are initially bonded together using a cohesive beam model that approximates the response of an Euler-Bernoulli beam located between particle centroids. Ice fracture and lead formation are determined based on the value of a non-local stress state around each particle and a Mohr-Coulomb fracture model. Therefore, large ice floes are modeled as continuous objects made up of many bonded particles that can interact with each other, deform, and fracture. We generate realistic particle configurations by discretizing the ice in MODIS satellite imagery into polygonal floes that fill the ice shape and extent that occurred in nature. The model is tested on ice advecting through an idealized channel and through Nares Strait. The results indicate that the bonded DEM model is capable of capturing the behavior of sea ice over a wide range of spatial scales, as well as the dynamic sea ice patterns through constrictions (arching, lead formation).