Animal Control officer arrested on multiple charges

WASILLA -- A Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation officer was arrested Tuesday for drunk driving, weapons violations and felony eluding while on duty.

Mark A. Thomas, 44, was operating a borough animal care vehicle on assignment at 12:58 a.m. when Wasilla police officer Cecil Dickerson saw him driving 75 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone on the Parks Highway near Spenard Builders Supply.

Both vehicles were traveling east, and Dickerson activated his lights and siren in an attempt to stop Thomas.

"The pickup continued down the Parks Highway at a high rate of speed, swerving over the white fog line on several occasions," Dickerson wrote in an affidavit filed in the Palmer courthouse.

Thomas finally stopped on the Parks Highway just east of Main Street, about two miles from where the chase began. Dickerson said Thomas' eyes were bloodshot and watery. He registered .142 blood-alcohol level and failed field sobriety tests, according to the affidavit.

While searching Thomas, Dickerson found a loaded .22-caliber revolver in a leather holster on his right hip.

"He never once told me that he was carrying a concealed weapon," the officer said.

Charges include failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, a class C felony; driving under the influence; fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons and fifth-degree misconduct involving weapons.

Thomas was lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $3,500 bail. He was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in District Court, then was released from jail after posting bail, a courthouse spokeswoman said.

Thomas was spotted by police while returning from Mile 57 Parks Highway, where a dog had been hit by a semi-truck near Houston Lodge and Liquor. Rachel Ferree, who was driving her car behind the truck, called 911 on her cellular phone to report the accident and 911 contacted animal control. Ferree put the dog into her car to wait for help.

"The dog was not bleeding so badly it couldn't be saved," she said. "Animal control called me and I told them this dog is pretty hurt but he can make it if we get it somewhere pretty quick. I picked the dog up like a baby and put it in the back seat."

Ferree said Thomas arrived a half hour later. He moved very slowly, she said, and there was alcohol on his breath.

"When he picked the dog up he was not gentle," Ferree said. "He dragged the dog out of my car. Its legs were dragging on the ground. He was not careful at all. He put the dog's front paws inside the kennel with the rest hanging out."

After the rough treatment, Ferree said, the animal's intestines fell out its rectum. It died at the site.

"It was absolutely horrible," Ferree said. "I stayed with this dog a half hour to make sure it would live. I could have gotten the dog to the shelter, but instead they sent a drunk guy."

Thomas was under administrative investigation as of Tuesday, said Dave Allison, the borough's chief animal care and regulation officer. Thomas was relieved of duty without pay.

Allison said termination is one possibility, adding he couldn't be more specific until his investigation was completed.

"We're looking into it," he said. "We have zero tolerance for something like this."