Coasting driver rolls Blazer

PALMER — A man attempting to coast out of Hatcher Pass after running out of gas wound up rolling his sport utility vehicle Saturday.

According to a press release from Alaska State Troopers, troopers were summonsed to the scene just before 5:30 p.m.

Jacques Willems-Letendre, 18, of Wasilla, had apparently run out of gas in his 1995 Chevy Blazer at the top of the pass near Summit Lake.

He then “attempted to coast the vehicle downhill toward the Palmer-Fishhook Road when he lost control approximately .2 miles uphill from the paved roadway,” according the press release.

The Blazer slid through loose gravel, rolled over an embankment, rolled several more times and came to rest on its side 200 feet downhill.

Troopers say a Wasilla 15-year-old was thrown from the Blazer through the front passenger side window.

Willems-Letendre and two of his other passengers, Nichola Terry Usoltseff, 18, and Dalton Wayne Jester, 19, remained inside when the Blazer rolled.

A helicopter took the 15-year-old to Anchorage. Everyone else was treated for minor injuries.

Willems-Letendre was cited for coasting, failing to exercise care to avoid a crash and no proof of insurance. The state parks department also wrote him a summons on a charge of disturbing natural resources. The Blazer was totaled.