Valley musher arrested in Seward stand-off

SEWARD — A former Jr. Iditarod champion and son of a legendary musher was arrested Wednesday after taking police on a car chase ending in an hour-long stand-off.

Rohn Buser, the 20-year-old son of four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser and 2008 Iditarod musher himself, sped south past Alaska State Troopers in a construction zone just outside of Seward, said Seward Police Chief Tom Clemons.

The troopers radioed ahead just as Buser was passing a city police cruiser, Clemons said. The patrol car turned behind Buser, and the pursuit began.

Two other police cars joined the chase as it went through town and down Lowell Point Road. Lowell Point Road dead-ends in a residential community. Clemons said Buser made a series of turns to head back north toward town.

Buser stopped just north of the Lowell Point Bridge, but refused to comply with police orders. Clemons said he put the car back in drive and continued up past the Alaska Sea Life Center. Buser ran over the spike strips the troopers put across the road, flattening the car’s tires.

The chase ended in a parking lot across from the sea-side pavilion. Clemons said police evacuated the surrounding area, and the Seward Fire Department blocked all the exits to the lot. At this point, eight Seward police officers and two troopers were on scene.

“Yes, we had our weapons drawn. We had no idea what we were getting into,” Clemons said.

Buser didn’t respond to police commands. The stand-off continued for about an hour, Clemons said, until Buser tried to back out of the parking lot. A Seward police car rammed the back of the car Buser was driving, rendering it inoperable.

“At that point, we were able to approach the vehicle, subdue him and take him into custody,” Clemons said.

Clemons said blood work was taken to test for drugs or alcohol, but the results were not back yet.

Buser was arraigned in the Seward courthouse Thursday on charges of assault by causing fear of injury with a weapon, failure to stop at the discretion of an officer and reckless driving. He was released to his parents’ custody, Clemons said.

Clemons said the vehicle Buser used — a small Ford SUV — had been reported stolen in Wasilla. The initial report he received indicated the registered owner is the Kendall Ford dealership in Wasilla, Clemons said. Neither the general manager of the dealership nor the Wasilla police case officer was available to confirm this as of press time.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.