Trooper car wrecked, suspect still at large

WASILLA — Law enforcement is looking for a speeding motorist in a stolen car who they say caused a wreck involving an Alaska State Trooper patrol car Saturday.

According to a trooper press statement, at 11:47 p.m. a trooper with the Bureau of Highway Patrol spotted a 1993 Buick speeding southbound on Church Road. The Buick was behind the trooper, so the trooper pulled over, let him pass, then pulled back out and flipped on his lights and sirens.

But the Buick didn’t stop. Troopers say about a minute after the pursuit began, the Buick ran the red light at Church and Parks Highway, nearly hitting another vehicle. The driver he missed, Loretta Overway, 31, of Houston, slammed on her brakes.

But she didn’t get stopped quick enough for the trooper chasing the speeding Buick, who was unable to stop, and smashed into Overway, troopers report.

The Buick kept going. Troopers later found it ditched in the parking lot of the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center. The driver and his passenger had apparently fled on foot.

Troopers from multiple divisions of the organization, a police dog, and Wasilla police officers combed the area with no success.

Troopers were unable to contact the Buick’s owner until the next day, at which point they found out the car had been stolen Saturday night from a home off of South Mack Road.

The trooper whose car got banged up was treated at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for a minor head injury and released that night. Overway was unhurt. Troopers estimate damage to the patrol car at $2,000. Overway’s vehicle sustained $1,000 damage.