Bad start to new year for drunk drivers

MAT-SU — Valley law enforcement was once again out in force, but if the preliminary reports from the various agencies are any indication, the New Year’s holiday weekend was relatively tame.

The Multi-Jurisdictional Traffic Enforcement Task Force was, as it was last year, patrolling the streets and roads this weekend with officers working overtime and outside of their normal coverage areas.

But by mid-day on Saturday, no agencies were reporting any major traffic accidents, though there were several drunken driving arrests.

The Wasilla Police Department reported one drunken driving arrest on Thursday, New Year’s Eve, at 12:25 a.m. Scott Olson was stopped after he almost hit a police car in the Chevron parking lot. He was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $2,750 bail.

Alaska State Troopers, for their part, charged seven motorists with drunken driving. The first came at 11:29 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. David P. Haynes, 26, of Spokane Valley, Wash., was stopped at Seward Meridian Parkway and Naomi Drive and charged with DUI, with his bail set at $500.

Next up was David M. Prator, 59, of Wasilla, who was stopped for a moving violation at Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Glenwood Avenue at 12:35 a.m. Friday. Prator was charged with drunken driving and jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $500 bail.

Then, at 1:59 a.m. Friday, troopers came upon a vehicle in the ditch at Alix Drive and Knik-Goose Bay Road. The driver, Roy H. Arnold Jr., 52, of Palmer, was charged with drunken driving and driving on a revoked license. He was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $5,250 bail.

Two hours went by and another driver wound up headed for jail. Steven Newman Jr., 29, was stopped at 4:10 a.m. for a moving violation and charged with drunken driving.

The last DUI of New Year’s Day came at 11:34 a.m. when troopers found Keith Wesley Castleton, 48, of Wasilla, had crashed his car at the end of Northshore Drive in Big Lake. Castleton was arrested on a warrant for violating probation. He was slapped with new charges of drunken driving, driving on a revoked license and failing to give immediate notice of an accident. His bail was set at $1,250.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.