Driver in August crash on Glenn still in custody

September 24, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A woman whose driving a witness described as &#8220unaffected by any laws,” and who later smashed into an SUV on the Glenn Highway will remain in custody for a while.

Martha L. Harper, 35, faces 10 counts of third-degree assault, first-degree assault, failure to stop at the direction of a police officer, driving under the influence and reckless driving.

The charges, filed on Sept. 15, stem from Harper's reported erratic race along Bogard Road, down Seward-Meridian Parkway and south on the Parks and Glenn highways on Aug. 11, shortly after 5 p.m. Harper halted only after ploughing nearly head on into a Ford Expedition driven by Jennifer Setters, 29, of Wasilla. The crash closed all lanes of the Glenn Highway for an hour, forcing commuters to travel the Old Glenn Highway.

Police received multiple reports from other drivers about Harper's red GMC pickup truck, and one of them spoke at the bail hearing.

&#8220Based on what I witnessed, no mortal controls affected her,” said Tiana Thomas. &#8220Not the laws of common sense, human decency or the laws of gravity.”

Elizabeth Varela, Harper's public defender, requested Harper's $25,000 bond be reduced to $10,000. Varela proposed Harper be released to her home, with a passive GPS ankle monitor and alcohol detection unit called a SCRAM. Varela offered Wesley Harper, Martha Harper's husband, as a third-party custodian. Harper would remain at home except for visits to the doctor and court, Varela said.

Wesley Harper said his wife was coming to pick him up at work at Power Sports in Anchorage the night of the crash, and their three children - 8, 10 and 11 - years old were at home. If Martha Harper were released, he still would work his regular six to seven days a week, he said, but since she is confined to a wheelchair, he wasn't worried about her getting to the nearby liquor store.

Martha Harper has autoimmune hepatitis and chronic arthritis, he said, and as a result of the crash she has a fractured spine, a broken right ankle and &#8220the usual bruising and lacerations.” He knew his wife drank, he said, but he never worried about it before the crash, never tried to get her into treatment and didn't know what her preliminary breath test for alcohol registered after the crash. Martha Harper also had been prescribed pain medications, but he didn't know what or how many prescriptions, he said.

Thomas asked the judge to not release Harper under those conditions.

&#8220Considering the danger she was, and could be, with only an ankle bracelet to prevent her from hurting herself or others, I ask you, sir, to protect her and us,” Thomas said.

Wolfe denied Harper's bail request, saying he would consider release only for treatment and with a &#8220strong third-party custodian.”

&#8220I can't fathom this was the only time she picked him up with a blood-alcohol content like that, Wolfe said. &#8220He may be a very fine person, but he apparently couldn't pick up a phone to protect the public.”

Wolfe set Harper's next hearing for Sept. 25.

Outside of court, Thomas said she was driving on the Seward-Meridian Parkway with her young son and only sister. Harper came up behind her so close Thomas couldn't see the headlights of the truck, which was visible &#8220in all three rearview mirrors.”

&#8220It was terrifying,” she said.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.