DUI defendant increases his woes

PALMER -- A 33-year-old Wasilla man reverted to well-practiced behavior this week, ending up in jail for felony driving under the influence and other charges.

Wasilla police investigated a motor-vehicle collision at the intersection of Graybark Drive and Elkhorn Drive at 12:10 a.m. Sunday. They found one unoccupied vehicle stuck in a snow bank. A second vehicle, a van, was occupied but the driver fled on foot when police tried to contact him, according to Wasilla police.

They tracked the man with a canine unit and thermal imager, police officer Kelly Swihart said, and arrested Stewart less than an hour later. Investigation revealed the van had been stolen earlier in the evening, and Stewart was driving when it struck the unoccupied car, police said.

"Stewart was also intoxicated and his license was revoked," Swihart said. "Further, Stewart had been released from jail on a pending felony DUI charge and was supposed to be in the presence of his third party."

A spokeswoman at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility confirmed that Stewart was charged with felony DUI on June 11, 2003. He made bail and left jail in August 2003.

Defendants are charged with felony DUI upon their third DUI arrest following two previous convictions for the crime.

Stewart was remanded to MSPTF this week on new charges of first-degree vehicle theft, felony DUI, driving while license revoked, leaving the scene of an accident, and violating conditions of release. Bail was set at $22,500 cash and a court-approved, third-party custodian.

During the early Sunday morning chase, Swihart and a canine handler tracked Stewart as another nearby police officer searched with the thermal imager.

"He had about a 10-minute head start on us," Swihart said of Stewart.

The imager picks up subtle heat changes and projects a visual image to the operator, added Swihart, one of Wasilla Police Department's two certified thermographers. The device can detect such things as dropped keys, footprints and other tips about the route someone is following.

Stewart's capture involved a combination of dog and high-tech tracking, Swihart said.