FROM THE BLOTTER: Two shots, three injured in firearms accidents

WASILLA — A pair of unrelated, accidental shootings Wednesday left three people hospitalized.

The first shooting happened in Talkeetna. Troopers were called at 5:52 a.m. They found Joseph Bartz, 23, of Talkeetna, with injuries that were not life-threatening. He was taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.

Bartz, according to a trooper report, “was intoxicated and accidentally shot himself in the leg with a .45-caliber handgun.”

The second shooting was at 3:07 p.m. at the Mat-Su Job Center. The Wasilla Police Department responded to that shooting.

Police say Jeremy Simile, 22, of Wasilla, was sitting in a van parked in front of the Job Center handling a revolver, when the gun went off, shooting him in the hand.

“The shot also injured a 19-year-old Wasilla woman who was standing outside the van,” police report.

The woman was hit in the arms and neck but police described her injuries as not life-threatening. She and Simile were both taken to Mat-Su Regional, treated and released.

Neither shooting has yet resulted in criminal charges but both troopers and Wasilla police say they are investigating.

Wild motorcyclist

gets $10,000 bail

PALMER — The motorcyclist who led state troopers and police officers on multiple high-speed chases throughout Anchorage and the Mat-Su had his wings clipped at a bail hearing Wednesday.

The prosecution argued for a third-party custodian to be assigned to Justin Carr, the 23-year-old who consistently broke into triple-digit speeds on his yellow Suzuki, confounding outmatched police cruisers.

The public defender objected, saying bail was sufficient because there was no drugs or guns involved and Carr was willing to give up his license while on bail.

Judge Vanessa White agreed, set the bail at $10,000 and told Carr he is not to operate any motor vehicle while waiting for trial, “not even a jet ski.”

Loud music lands

man in jail

WILLOW — A man asked to turn his music down wound up in jail after he threatened to injure the complainants.

Alaska State Troopers say that at 1:23 a.m. on Saturday they were called to the Willow Creek Campground where they say Joseph Stanger, 56, of Willow, was “intoxicated and creating a disturbance by yelling and threatening to injure other people camping and fishing at Willow Creek.”

According to a press release, Stanger got confrontational after his neighbors at the campsite asked him to turn his music down.

Stanger was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $750 bail and charged with three counts of disorderly conduct.