Racing drivers cause head-on

PALMER — Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for those charged with keeping the roads safe.

The most dramatic of many incidents came Monday afternoon — a collision caused by two cars racing down Palmer-Fishhook Road.

Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said the accident occurred when two cars were racing up the road and a Ford Escape appeared in the oncoming lane. She said the Escape managed to avoid one of the racers but hit the other one — a Honda Accord — head one. Four people were in the Escape and two in the Accord.

“One person was airlifted from the scene. All six were transported (to the hospital). Two of them looked pretty bad,” Peters said.

She said troopers eventually tracked down the other racer and there was a 9-year-old child in the car at the time.

Peters didn’t have any names to release. Her source of information, Sgt. Steve Adams with the Palmer office of the troopers’ Bureau of Highway Patrol was busy chasing down other reports.

“It’s Memorial Day. People are out and about,” Peters said. “On any holiday, especially in the summer, you see a huge influx of people into the roadways.”

The trooper logs from the weekend confirm that it was a busy one for law enforcement in the Valley.

The first accident of the weekend, at least for the troopers, came at 1:30 p.m. on Friday when Steven Alexander, 57, of Seward, lost control of his 2004 Yamaha motorcycle on a gravel patch and left the road. The bike hit a dirt berm and tipped, troopers say, bucking Alexander. He was hospitalized with an ankle injury. Troopers say Alexander was wearing a helmet and protective clothing.

Next up, according to trooper logs, was a drunken car chase on the Old Glenn Highway at 12:40 a.m. on Saturday. The driver, Ty Wells Stevens, 33, of Palmer, didn’t stop for troopers until he parked in a driveway on Plumley Road. Stevens was arrested for DUI, eluding arrest and for not submitting to a breathalyzer.

Then, at 3 a.m. on Saturday at the Little Susitna Campground in Houston, troopers were called to respond to a report of shots fired in the area. They tracked down a brown 1985 Chevrolet pickup as it left the campground and arrested both the driver – Allen Walker, 48, of Houston — and the passenger — Alvin W. Sexton, 30, of Anchorage.

Walker was charged with drunken driving, driving on a revoked license and drinking in violation of the conditions of his release from jail. Sexton was charged with weapons misconduct because, troopers allege, he was drunk and had a gun on him and didn’t tell them he was armed.

Sunday was just as busy, according to trooper logs, beginning at 9 a.m. with a wreck on the Old Glenn Highway at Mile 15. That’s where George Sherwood, 26, of Palmer, drove off the road to avoid a moose. A private vehicle took him to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, troopers report.

Then, in quick succession, there were two accidents in the Valley’s eastern reaches. The first came at 11:40 p.m. near Eklutna Tail Race in the Butte. Nathan E. Gould, 18, of Anchorage, was arrested for drunken driving and assault in that wreck. Troopers say he lost control and rolled his 2005 Subaru Legacy station wagon. He and a 17-year-old passenger were taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for treatment.

The second accident came at 11:52 p.m. on Sunday on Jonesville Mine Road, where Christopher L. Wiestock, 35, swerved to avoid a moose and into the ditch. He and two passengers were treated on scene for minor injuries.

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