Drunken driver arrested after shots fired in downtown Wasilla

WASILLA — Whether or not he fired the shots heard in downtown that night, Mario Johnson was driving drunk and ran from them on foot, police say.

According to an affidavit Wasilla Police Department Officer Andrew Kappler filed in the case against Johnson, the call to respond to the area of Herning Avenue and Tommy Moe Drive came in at 1 a.m., Oct. 25.

After meeting up with officer Don Ridge, Kappler spotted a red Ford Ranger blasting down Swanson Avenue at 60 mph without its headlines on.

Kappler gave chase. A cabbie who had initially called to report the shots was still on the line with dispatchers at the time and reported that a pickup without any headlights on had crashed into a power transformer at Swanson and Willow avenues and was heading back toward the Mug Shot Saloon.

The cabbie flagged Kappler down as he headed toward the Mug Shot. As he was talking to the cabbie, Kappler spotted that same pickup parked near a red building near Tommy Moe Drive and Herning Avenue.

“At that point I observed in my rearview mirror an individual walking across Swanson Avenue toward Wonderland Park,” Kappler wrote in his affidavit.

Kappler switched on his police lights and did a U-turn to catch the guy, who ran into the park, crossed it, crossed Nelson Avenue and entered the treeline on the other side. Ridge made use of his tracking dog Marshall, who chased the suspect down. That’s when police identified him as Mario Johnson of Anchorage.

“Johnson denied driving or shooting any weapons, and he stated he was just out for a jog,” Kappler wrote.

The officer also recorded his observations of Kappler.

“I observed Johnson to have bloodshot and watery eyes and detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage about his breath and person. I returned to the area of the Ford Ranger, which had a registered owner of Mario Johnson,” Kappler wrote.

Ridge went back to the accident scene and observed a commercial power meter broken off at the base as well as a street sign, also broken at the base. Ridge also found seven 9-milimeter pistol shells near the entrance to the red building. There were various ammunition boxes in the pickup, but no weapons.

“Johnson denied shooting any guns and stated he did not have any guns prior to our contact,” Kappler wrote.

A Breathalyzer test at 3:01 a.m. returned a result of .137. The legal limit for driving is .08.

Johnson was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on charges of drunken driving, failing to give notice of an accident, reckless driving and disorderly conduct. The notice of an accident and disorderly conduct charges were later dismissed.

Johnson posted $1,000 bail on Oct. 28 and was released from jail pending his trial.

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