Driver pleads to assault, DUI charges

PALMER -- A Chugiak teen-ager who swerved into an oncoming lane on the Glenn Highway and collided with another vehicle entered pleas of no contest Friday in Palmer Superior Court to third-degree assault and driving under the influence.

The charges stem from a Nov. 2 incident in which James Danny Chiodo, 19, lost control of the Dodge Ram while driving south on the Glenn at 5:15 a.m. His vehicle struck a Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Matthew Day, 25, of Palmer.

Day lost his top and bottom front teeth in the crash, and suffered several facial lacerations that required stitches, charging documents said. A witness to the crash just north of the intersection with Parks Highway notified authorities by calling 911.

Chiodo got out of the truck and ran into nearby woods, but Alaska State Troopers soon apprehended him. His blood alcohol level was .244, more than three times the legal limit, and he was so intoxicated he couldn't tell Valley Hospital emergency room doctors where his pain was located.

"They admitted him into the hospital until he was sober enough to articulate his pain," according to charging documents.

By entering his no contest plea to third-degree assault, Chiodo agreed to serve six months in prison with the amount of suspended time to be determined later. The plea to DUI, his second such charge, will result in a fine from $3,000 to $10,000, and a sentence of 20 days to one year in prison, plus one-year loss of his driver's license, under terms of a plea bargain.

In addition, Chiodo's probation on an earlier Anchorage case is revoked.

In making the plea agreement, the state dropped original charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death, and first-degree vehicle theft. Both are class C felonies punishable by up to five years in prison.

A misdemeanor charge of minor consuming alcohol also was dropped.