Law enforcement enjoys quiet New Year’s Eve

PALMER — Overall, it was a somewhat quiet New Year’s Eve for Valley law enforcement.

In Wasilla, police were running extra patrols from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. as part of the Mutli-Jurisdictional Traffic Enforcement Team Wasilla Sgt. Kelly set up.

“I got an e-mail from Bill Rapson, who was the officer I put in charge,” Swihart said. “He said that they were pretty busy initially. Thinks kind-of slacked off after that.”

The team is comprised of officers from the Alaska State Troopers, the Wasilla, Palmer and Houston police departments and the state’s commercial vehicle enforcement program.

Swihart said that as of press time, his statistics hadn’t come in yet from troopers or Palmer. Usually, officers hand in their statistics at the end of the night but, in this case, “There was some kind of call in Palmer that required some kind of mass exodus,” Swihart said.

A quick look at the reports from Alaska State Troopers as of Thursday afternoon show four car accidents, only one with injuries, from New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The injury accident happened at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to the AST report. William Campbell, 38, Wasilla, allegedly got distracted reaching for something in his 2002 Ford minivan and crossed the centerline, hitting a 2006 Ford pickup head on.

The pickup driver, Matthew Breshears, 46, Wasilla, was unhurt. But Campbell was taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for treatment.

When thinking about New Year’s, the crime that comes to mind most is drunken driving. As of Thursday afternoon, though, troopers had only reported one DUI on the holiday — at 4:37 a.m. Wedenesday.

Joseph R. Cleaves, 32, of California, was jailed on $500 bail after troopers tagged him for drunken driving on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway near the Palmer Alaska USA Federal Credit Union.

Other minor traffic arrests were also in the reports — at least six for driving on a suspended, canceled or revoked license as of Thrusday afternoon.

Swihart said the team made a few DUI arrests that might not have been posted yet. “They made some other driving arrests like driving on a revoked or suspended license or without a license, things like that,” he said.

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