Car strikes pedestrians, injures 3

WASILLA — Passersby stepped into help rescue pedestrians injured when a car ran over them early Saturday morning.

A Wasilla woman has been charged in connection with an incident in which she struck three of people in the parking lot of Tailgater’s Sports Bar and Grill, pinning two beneath the uninsured gold Ford Focus Courtney Jones, 21, of Wasilla was driving, according to charging documents.

A “large group of patrons lifted the vehicle off of (a victim) and rolled it backwards, freeing (another victim),” according to an affidavit written by Wasilla Police Officer Andrew Kappler.

Jones was driving into the parking of Tailgater’s when people began screaming for her to stop, according to the affidavit filed Saturday in Palmer court.

“She later discovered she had run someone over,” Kappler wrote.

Jones’ breath alcohol content was later measured at .10 percent, according to the affidavit. Alaska’s legal alcohol limit is .08 percent. Jones told Kappler she’d had “three or four beers and a shot” a few hours before the collision, according to the affidavit.

Troopers charged Jones with three counts of second-degree assault, one count of driving under the influence, and one misdemeanor count for operating a car without insurance, court documents show. Jones remained in Mat-Su Pretrial detention center Monday night, according to corrections documents.

One victim reported a cut leg, and several victims reported contusions, according to Kappler’s report. At least one victim was suffering from an apparent facial injury, based on the amount of blood visible, Kappler wrote.

Names of the victims were redacted from charging documents, citing privacy concerns, until charging documents could be reviewed by legal authorities, most of whom were out of the office Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, according to Wasilla Police Department spokesman Officer Dan Bennett.

Responders transported three victims from the scene via ambulance to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, according to Mat-Su borough Emergency Medical Services director Clint Vardeman.

All three victims were woman, Bennett said.

All were listed as adults, Vardeman said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.