Driver named in collision with coffee stand

PALMER — A briefly airborne pickup on Bogard Road demolished one corner of an ice cream and coffee stand Monday afternoon.

On scene, the pickup lay on its roof amid the wreckage of the southwest corner of the stand, which most people know as Miller’s Express. Officials on scene said that the driver of the pickup and two of Miller’s employees were transported to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

Troopers later identified Ashley Hilton, 25, as the driver of the 2006 Dodge Ram that struck Miller's Express. Troopers first identified "Kelly Homberg" as the driver in a press release at 5:23 p.m., Monday.

However, Christy Pinkerton a family friend and Frontiersman employee said that “Holmberg” — spelled with an L — is an employee at the shop and one of the Miller’s children.

Pinkerton said Holmberg and her sister Kendra LaCroix were working in the store when the collision occurred.

Troopers confirmed to the Frontiersman that Hilton— not Holmberg — was the driver around 9:20 p.m., Monday.

Shawn Shanigan, a member of the Miller clan, said the two women working inside the stand were both Miller daughters. The Millers own Miller’s Express on Bogard and various other local business, including Miller’s Market in Houston.

One barista was pregnant and more shook up than anything. The other, who was standing at the main service window — inches from the point of impact — had a broken, bloodied nose. Shanigan said he didn’t know what had caused the injury.

As for the driver, “I hope she’s OK,” Shanigan said as he watched rescuers work to extricate her.

Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said she believed the injuries to the Miller’s employees were minor, but troopers were at the hospital confirming that as she spoke just before 2:30 p.m. The trooper press statement said Hilton’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Medics and firefighters loaded the driver onto a backboard and then onto a stretcher. Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele said the rescue was straightforward.

“We took both doors off and were able to access her,” Steele said.

He pointed out a green Mitsubishi Lancer yards from the Bogard/Seldon intersection with a broken rear bumper. Steele said the pickup apparently hit the vehicle before it impacted Miller’s Express. Troopers say the driver of the Mitsubishi was a 17-year-old Palmer boy.

Troopers on scene used spray paint to trace tire tracks from that part of Bogard across the westerly driveway to the parking lot, through a muddy ditch to the coffee stand. They shooed away onlookers who strayed into their accident scene.

In the press release troopers reported that after hitting the Mitsubishi, “(Hilton's) vehicle subsequently entered the ditch, struck an embankment and vaulted approximately 25 yards through the air. (Hilton's) truck landed in a parking lot and then collided with a coffee stand building, before coming to a stop.”

Witnesses on scene spoke of hearing a loud boom. The pickup came to rest on its roof facing the direction it came from. Troopers say it was totaled and estimate damage to the building at $15,000.

Shanigan said he showed up later and couldn’t speculate about what happened. He wondered if maybe Hilton had some mechanical trouble with the vehicle or some kind of medical problem just prior to the wreck. He didn’t want to assume she was speeding or reckless.

“I hope she wasn’t in a hurry,” he said. “God, I hope she wasn’t in a hurry.”

Troopers didn’t release a definitive cause of the wreck but said, “distracted driving appears to a significant factor in the collision.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.