Man accused of hitting flagger arrested

PALMER — A Wasilla man accused of hitting a construction zone flagger last week made his first appearance in court Tuesday, having been arrested Monday night.

In court, Joshua Vialpando, 32, hid his face behind a sheaf of papers, blocking the view of a television camera in the gallery as he answered questions from District Court Judge William Estelle.

At this stage in the game, Vialpando was not asked to enter a plea. If a grand jury chooses to indict him, his case, which includes felony counts of assault and leaving the scene of an accident, will move from Estelle’s courtroom into Superior Court and a plea will be entered,

Vialpando, in interviews with police, admitted to hitting Lacy McDaniel, 25, of Wasilla, early in the morning Aug. 6 as she was working on a construction crew at Parks Highway and Lucus Road, said Wasilla’s deputy police chief Greg Wood.

McDaniel was severely injured in the crash. She was hospitalized at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, Wood said.

Police caught up with Vialpando after a tip called in to Alaska State Troopers the afternoon of Aug. 6 pointed to him, according to a WPD press release.

Police waited to arrest him, Wood said, in order to have more time to conduct interviews and wrap up pieces of the investigation.

“Once you arrest somebody and they’re in custody then you have 10 days to present all your evidence to grand jury,” Wood said.

If the grand jury doesn’t chose to indict the person, Wood said, you’re back to square one. So police need to make sure they have a strong case prepared before they take it to grand jury. Wood said the department weighed the risk of waiting versus the benefits of taking their time.

“The suspect wasn’t going anywhere. He’s been around a long time . . . He’s never failed to appear in court,” Wood said.

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