Second man arrested in bar shooting

WASILLA — Police have arrested a second man in the Tuesday shooting at Tailgaters Bar and Grill and say most of the charges against the first man will likely be dropped.

Duane R. Aylsworth, 33, of Wasilla, was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal mischief and weapons misconduct. His brother, Donald Lee, 22, of Wasilla, had been arrested the night of the shooting.

No one was hurt in the incident, which happened shortly before 1 a.m. and began with an argument inside the bar with a group of Army National Guardsmen. Aylsworth and his brother were ejected. Outside the bar, shots were fired at the guardsmen, who took cover behind a van.

Afterward, police chased down a car that initially refused to yield. The driver was later identified as Lee.

“When we stopped him he come out of the car and immediately said he was responsible for the shooting and his brother had nothing to do with it,” Wasilla’s Deputy Police Chief Greg Wood said.

Interviews with witnesses and victims, though, contradicted Lee’s story, Wood said. By Wednesday they were pretty sure they were going to charge Aylsworth.

They spoke to him Wednesday afternoon but Aylsworth stuck to his story, blaming the shooting on his brother.

At Lee’s bail hearing Wednesday afternoon, Magistrate David Zwink hinted at what was to come.

“I understand that we’re making life very interesting today,” he said at the start of the hearing.

Lee and his attorney decided to wait to see what police and prosecutors decided to do before arguing that his $250,000 bail should be lowered. Zwink told them not to worry too much about the bail amount.

“Obviously the financial side is going to change drastically,” Zwink said.

The day he was arrested, Lee was charged with the same counts his brother now faces and an additional count of eluding arrest. A hindering prosecution charge was tacked on later. Thursday morning, Wood said he expected everything but the hindering and eluding charges would be dropped.

But, he said, all that is contingent upon the outcome of today’s grand jury hearings, who will decide what charges stick and what charges don’t.

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