Endurance pursuit passes through Valley

MAT-SU — In what has to be some kind of a record, a man driving a white Cadillac Escalade led police on a chase from Anchorage all the way to Cantwell, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The troopers in a press release stated they were just one of at least three law enforcement agencies involved in the pursuit. Valley law enforcement first got wind of the chase at 9:21 p.m. Tuesday when Anchorage police called to say the Escalade had last been spotted on the Glenn Highway near Birchwood.

Eleven minutes later, troopers tried to stop the SUV on the Parks Highway near Hyer Road, but the driver, later identified by troopers as George Greene, 47, of Anchorage, would not relent.

“Greene continued to elude troopers and (the) Wasilla Police Department for a short distance through Wasilla northbound on the Parks Highway and then continued to elude troopers at extremely high rates of speed for approximately 35 miles,” the press release stated.

At around Willow, those troopers gave up the chase. But if the Escalade’s driver thought the pursuit had ended, he was mistaken.

Other troopers working with the agency’s Bureau of Highway Patrol picked up the chase at around Mile 82 Parks Hwy. Troopers said Greene continued to refuse to yield and the chase still had 100 miles to go.

Troopers said highway patrol officers teamed up with wildlife troopers and used a “vehicle immobilization device” to stop Greene at Mile 187 Parks Hwy., near Cantwell.

It’s not specified in the press release exactly what kind of device immobilized the vehicle, though the term “immobilization device” generally refers to tools law enforcement uses to deflate a fleeing vehicle’s tires — usually a strip or stick with spikes attached to it.

“No law enforcement members were injured, no law enforcement vehicles were damaged, and the only citizen vehicle damage in the entire incident was to the tires of the Escalade,” troopers stated.

Greene was charged with eluding arrest and drunken driving and was booked into Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. He also had a warrant out for his arrest. Troopers report that Anchorage police got the warrant, presumably while Greene was running from the law.

A check of jail records on Thursday afternoon showed Greene was still jailed in Palmer.