Bluegrass festival goes off without major problems

TALKEETNA — If trooper reports are any measure, the annual Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival passed without major incident.

“I think that, considering I haven’t heard any major big things, it was what they anticipated to happen,” said Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters.

That, she said, is in marked contrast to this year’s installment of the Talkeetna Moose Dropping Festival, which was marred by fights, drunken rabble-rousing and people jumping off a railroad bridge.

“At the Moose Dropping Festival nobody anticipated such activity,” Peters said.

Still, Bluegrass certainly kept troopers busy.

As of Monday afternoon, the lengthiest report from troopers of the weekend’s activities around the festival started as a hit-and-run at the Sunshine Tesoro station.

According to trooper reports, at 7:07 p.m. Thursday night, troopers were called to the parking lot where a Pontiac minivan had hit another vehicle and left. Troopers tracked the van down at 8:30 p.m. as it pulled into the festival parking lot.

That traffic stop, troopers report, netted four arrests and a citation:

• Dawson Sult, 24, of Houston, was driving the car when it was stopped but troopers say he wasn’t driving when it hit the other vehicle. He was, however, in violation of his probation, troopers report, and he was arrested for it.

• Sarah O’Leary, 19, of Houston, was driving the car during the accident, troopers say. She was cited for leaving the scene of an accident.

• Robert Crawley, 25, of Wasilla, a passenger in the car, was arrested on a $5,000 felony warrant for failure to appear in court on drug charges. He also had weed on him, troopers report.

• Joshua Sult, 28, of Houston, another passenger, was arrested on a $250 warrant for failure to appear in court on a driving on a suspended license charge.

And, finally, a 17-year-old Wasilla girl, unnamed in the trooper reports, was charged with theft for allegedly stealing various things from the Tesoro station and for underage drinking.

Other reports from the roads just outside the festival include:

• Jarell Booker, 27, of Talkeetna, and William Pariseau, 66, of Talkeetna, who were both issued summonses for driving on a suspended license in separate incidences.

• Mary Howard, 35, of Anchorage, who was arrested at Mile 101 Parks Highway and charged with violating her probation.

• David Futrel, 29, of Anchorage, cited for having an open container of alcohol in his car near Mile 85 Parks Highway. His passengers, Nicola Leonti, 19, of Chugiak and Steven Peak, 19, of Chugiak, were both cited for underage drinking.

• Bilson Risner, 36, of Fairbanks, who was arrested at Mile 101 Parks Highway on a warrant for failure to report to prison on a drunken driving charge and a new charge of driving on a revoked license.

• A 16-year-old Big Lake boy cited for driving without a valid license.

• Jennifer Spain, 47, of Talkeetna, who was cited for having the wrong plates on her Ford Explorer near Mile 102 Parks Highway.

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