Car assault suspect jailed

WASILLA -- A Wasilla woman believes she's lucky to be alive after being hit and flipped onto the hood of a car driven by another woman police say was intoxicated.

Peggy Williams was tending bar Sunday at 2:13 a.m. when Tanya Crocker, 44, of Palmer entered Wasilla Bar at Mile 40.5 Parks Highway. Crocker was intoxicated and was not served, according to Williams and a report by Wasilla police officer Joel Smith.

Witnesses at the bar told police that when Crocker left, Williams went outside and tried to coax her into a taxi cab or back into the bar for some coffee. However, Crocker allegedly got angry at Williams before getting into her maroon Honda and driving toward her.

"Tanya started yelling obscenities at Williams," Smith wrote in his report.

During a telephone interview Tuesday, Williams said she first feared her leg was broken but the injuries turned out to be less serious.

"She knocked me up onto the hood," Williams said. "I almost hit the windshield. I had begged her. I said, 'Come on back in and we'll sober you up.'

"There I was trying to save her life and she tried to take mine."

Williams told police she was trying to run out of the way when the car hit her. Crocker backed up and drove toward Williams again but veered off at the last second, according to charging documents.

Police said Crocker drove west on the Parks Highway. She was later contacted by officers at her home at 1270 Old Towne Drive in Palmer.

It took two officers to get the suspect handcuffed, according to police, who added that Crocker tried to break free and run back into the house.

"I placed her prone on the ground and used a control hold until a vehicle could be brought to my location to secure her," Smith said in his report.

Crocker was taken to Palmer Police Department for processing, then lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $15,000 bail. Police said she registered a .122 blood-alcohol level hours after the incident.

Charges include third-degree assault, a class C felony; leaving the scene of an injury accident, a special class felony; as well as driving under the influence and resisting arrest, both of which are class A misdemeanors.

Third-degree assault carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.