Documents reveal details of 50-mile police chase

WASILLA — Details revealed in court documents paint a dramatic picture of a car chase that circled the Valley’s core area before ending in Chugiak.

The whole saga began at 3:47 p.m., Jan. 25 with a call from a member of the public about a Jeep driving recklessly in Wasilla. The caller reported that the Jeep was in the Wal-Mart parking lot, but before it pulled in had served across the centerline on Seward Meridian Parkway at least three times, almost going into the ditch.

“As I turned around to make contact with the Jeep, the vehicle then pulled out and started to drive around the lot,” reports Wasilla Police Department Officer Pat Kruchowski in documents filed in court against the driver, Kevin Ashton, 28, of Anchorage. “I also observed that the driver was constantly reaching over to the passenger side and then sitting something down on the floor.”

In short order, the Jeep left the parking lot and the chase was on.

Here’s the route it took: west into Wasilla on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, north on Main Street, east on Palmer-Fishhook Road, south on the Glenn Highway, west again on Parks Highway, then a U-turn on the highway and backtracking, finally running out of gas in Chugiak on the Glenn. A quick tally of the mileage for the route pencils out to about 50 miles.

Kruchowski recorded Ashton running cars off the road on the Parks Highway, Main Street and the Glenn Highway. The Jeep was sometimes driving in the wrong lane. Its speed often topped 100 mph.

“The Jeep went through every red light on Main Street, including the traffic light on Seldon (Road) and Wasilla-Fishhook (Road),” the officer writes.

Kruchowski called off the pursuit as the Jeep left Palmer. Anchorage police picked it up, though, and made the final collar in Chugiak.

Kruchowski said Ashton had been wanted on a warrant. He was also charged with driving on a revoked license, reckless driving and vehicle theft.

The theft charge comes in because the Jeep, as it turns out, was listed as stolen out of Anchorage.

Kruchowski writes that he called the owner — the Boys and Girls Club of Anchorage — and talked to a supervisor there.

“He advised me that he did not know this person nor did he know how he got the keys to the vehicle,” Kruchowski writes. “He also stated that Ashton does not work for the club, but will make an inquiry on how he might have obtained the keys.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270

or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.