Café owner injured in Parks crash

WASILLA — A local restaurant owner was airlifted to Anchorage Sunday after an allegedly drunk driver rear-ended him on the Parks Highway.

Alaska State Troopers report the wreck was called in at 5:36 p.m. near Mile 50. The highway was closed for hours while troopers investigated and cleaned up the crash.

Bob Andres, 61, of Wasilla, was northbound driving his 1998 Dodge Dakota pickup when he stopped to make a left turn onto Marigold Drive. Andres is one of the owners of the Windbreak Café. He has also worked to promote lake fishing in the Valley and to shed light on the state’s finances and the Alaska Permanent Fund.

Troopers identified the driver who rear-ended him as Craig Stacks, 46, of Palmer. Stacks was driving a 1991 Chevy Blazer.

Andres was flown to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage aboard a medevac helicopter. Troopers report his injuries are serious.

Stacks was driven to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center with injuries troopers said were not life threatening. He was later arrested for drunken driving and assault, and jailed on $50,000 bail at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. He made his first appearance in court Monday and will need to find a third party to watch over him before he can be released. Jail records late Monday afternoon showed he was still incarcerated.

Andres and his wife, Annette, were in the public spotlight in 2007 when they battled the city of Wasilla over development of property near the Windbreak Café. In Sept. 2008, the couple requested the city reimburse them for more than $44,000 to compensate them for time spent digging through public records.

It was partly because of the Andreses going public with their feud with the city that Wasilla City Council commissioned an independent investigation into allegations former mayor Dianne Keller and the city worked to benefit Meritage Development Group, a private company developing property near their business. The mayor and city were accused of using scare tactics to get business owners on board with the development plan, which included a proposed access road that would have run through several properties.

The result of the investigation was a conclusion by Denali Law Group that the city sent threatening correspondence.

Efforts to reach Andres or his wife, Annette, were unsuccessful as of press time.

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