Troopers arrest 2 for separate drunk-driving crashes Thursday

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers arrested two Big Lake men for allegedly driving drunk and crashing their vehicles in separate Thursday night incidents.

According to online trooper dispatches, the first incident took place at around 6 p.m., when troopers responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash on Fairview Loop. There, they found a red 1994 Camaro and a roadside utility pole — both destroyed — but no driver. The driver fled the scene on foot, but was discovered a short time later in a nearby neighborhood.

According to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters, a member of the public witnessed the crash and was able to take a photo of the suspect, “which provided us a pretty good description of the guy to go off of,” Peters wrote in an email.

Peters said a Mat-Su drug investigator in an unmarked police car spotted a man walking down the road who matched the description of the crash victim.

The investigator took the man into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence. Upon his arrest the driver, John Oliver Deckard, 32, of Big Lake, allegedly refused to provide a breath sample to troopers. While he was in custody, troopers allege Deckard cut his own hand, intentionally smeared blood on surfaces and equipment at the police station, and attempted to fling blood on officers.

Deckard was charged with DUI, refusal to submit to a chemical test, failure to notify law enforcement of a collision, two counts of fifth-degree criminal mischief and two counts of first-degree attempted harassment of a law enforcement officer. He was taken to Mat-Su Pretrial and held on $1,000 bail with a court approved third party custodian provision.

About four hours after Deckard’s brush with troopers, officers attempted to stop a green Toyota Tacoma on the Susitna Parkway near Big Lake Road. In an online dispatch, troopers said the driver, 58-year-old Keith Earl Lipse, of Big Lake, instead sped off, driving faster than 100 MPH in 35 and 45 MPH zones while crossing into the wrong lane.

Troopers pursued Lipse for 4.5 miles before he stopped at his residence, where he was arrested in the yard.

Troopers suspect Lipse was intoxicated, and he failed to provide a breath sample. He was charged with DUI, refusal to submit to a chemical test, felony eluding and reckless driving. Troopers took him to Mat-Su Pretrial, where he was held on $5,250 bail.