Drunk ATV driver drags trooper short distance

PALMER - A man who allegedly dragged an Alaska State Trooper for a short distance down a snowy road Wednesday evening wound up in jail for drunken driving and assault.

According to a sworn statement Trooper Sean O'Brien filed in the case against Gregory Robert Mothershead II, 28, of Palmer, at around 6:20 p.m., O'Brien talked to Mothershead, who was driving a green 1999 Honda ATV on Melanie Lane near Brian Drive in the Bodenburg Loop area of the Butte.

"I rolled down my window and asked what he was doing and why he was riding an ATV in the middle of the road. The male said he was pulling people out of the ditch. I asked the male for his identification and the male said ‘write me a ticket' and began to drive away," O'Brien wrote.

The trooper writes that both he and Trooper Joshua Varys ordered Mothershead to stop multiple times before Varys grabbed Mothershead.

"(Mothershead) refused to stop and began accelerating the ATV, dragging Trooper Varys. After well over 100 feet Trooper Varys was able to get (Mothershead) to stop and was attempting to pull him off of the ATV," O'Brien wrote.

Troopers allege Mothershead resisted arrest, and O'Brien writes that after the ATV stopped he ran up to help.

"I observed him to have a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and person," he writes.

Other signs of drunkenness cited in court filings from O'Brien include bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, swaying, wobbling, staggering and stumbling. A breath test returned a .174, just over twice the legal limit of .08.

Mothershead told troopers he didn't realize Varys was hanging from the ATV as he drove.

"Trooper Varys and I explained that he could have killed Trooper Varys. Mothershead said he was sorry several times. Mothershead's actions recklessly placed Trooper Varys in fear of imminent serious physical injury," O'Brien wrote.

Trooper reports describe Varys' injuries as minor. O'Brien catalogued them as injuries to Varys' left wrist, pinkie finger and ring finger.

Mothershead was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer and DUI. He was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $10,000 bail. Jail records Thursday afternoon showed he was still incarcerated. Court records showed he'd been scheduled Friday for a hearing to discuss terms of his possible release pending trial.

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