ATV-car crash kills boy outside Willow

Aug. 12, 2005

KATE KELLY\Frontiersman reporter

A 15-year-old Willow boy died Monday afternoon after his all-terrain vehicle collided with a minivan on Willow-Fishhook Road.

David Patterson became the second Valley teen to die in a four-wheeler accident in less than a week when his ATV struck a Chevrolet Lumina driven by Paul Pierce, 54, of Willow, at about 4 p.m. Aug. 8, Alaska State Troopers reported.

Pierce was heading east toward home when the four-wheeler emerged from thick brush lining the narrow roadway. When the two vehicles collided nearly head on, Patterson and the ATV flew into a ditch at least 10 feet deep across the road, killing Patterson, troopers said.

Patterson was wearing a helmet, but lost it during the crash, troopers said. Pierce was not seriously injured.

The accident is still under investigation.

On Wednesday, Aug. 3, Wasilla 15-year-old Cole Blakely was killed when the four-wheeler he was riding on with another teen drove into an AMC Eagle at the Pittman Road/Parks Highway intersection. The driver of that ATV, 14-year-old Ashley Armknecht, of Wasilla, reportedly did not see the Eagle and thought the way was clear after a truck turned left onto the highway.

Armknecht suffered minor injuries to her legs and hip. Neither of the teens was wearing a helmet when the accident happened at about 11:35 p.m.

Another crash at about the same time Aug. 3 claimed the life of 28-year-old Thomas Grato, of Wasilla, when he and four other occupants of a 1987 Acura Legend drove over an embankment at a 90-degree turn on Trunk Road and rolled several times. The impact ejected the car's occupants, and the car came to rest about 174 feet from where it left the roadway, troopers reported.

Alcohol was believed to have been a factor in that crash, as alcohol containers littered the scene near the UAA experimental farm. Troopers also believe only one seat belt was used before the accident that killed Grato.

The driver, Luke Jackson, 22, of Anchorage, and passengers William Johnson, 21, of Wasilla, Eric Bretzke, 32, of Wasilla, and Dana St. Pierre, 34, of Wasilla, suffered serious injuries and were transported to Valley Hospital, but were expected to recover.

Grato died at about 9:30 the next morning and his body was picked up by the state medical examiner for an autopsy.

Investigation of the crash continues, troopers said.