Wife gets DUI; her husband also nets DUI, plus five other charges

WASILLA — An alleged string of very bad behavior following his wife’s drunken driving arrest landed a local man in jail Thursday charged with a litany of offenses.

According to Alaska State Troopers, at 9:53 p.m. Thursday troopers happened upon a green 1999 Dodge pickup on East Timb Circle parked partially in the road, running with the headlights on.

Trooper Rick Sawyer wrote in an affidavit filed in the case that the woman in the driver’s seat was Jodi R. Oneill, 43, of Wasilla.

He said he talked to Oneill who said her husband had been driving them home from Hooks Bar in Hatcher Pass when he got upset, stopped the pickup in the road, got out and walked to their home.

“Jodi stated she drove the truck a very short distance down the road and pulled over and called her brother,” Sawyer wrote.

Sawyer said he found an open bottle of what Oneill said was schnapps in the middle of the pickup’s front seat.

At some point while he was giving Oneill field sobriety tests, Sawyer wrote, the husband, Daniel Oneill, showed up, stumbling and falling down as he made his way through the ditch to the road. Sawyer said he smelled alcohol on Daniel Oneill’s breath and told him to back away when he got too close.

“I observed Daniel approach the Dodge pickup and grab something from the vehicle. I instructed Daniel to stay away from the vehicle. Daniel became uncooperative and began to walk away from the scene heading to his residence,” Sawyer wrote.

Another trooper arrived on scene shortly after 10 p.m. to help Sawyer out. Sawyer wrote that as they conducted their investigation, a red Cheverolet Astro van came speeding past, skidding around a corner and making an illegal U-turn to make another pass at the troopers and their cars.

Sawyer said the van pulled up to the scene, slowed way down, and then he saw Daniel Oneill in the driver’s seat, making an obscene gesture.

He said he told the other trooper to chase the van down because Oneill was very likely impaired. But the van lost the trooper. So Sawyer drove to the Oneill home.

“I observed Daniel exit the residence and start yelling. I instructed him to show his hands and walk down the driveway. Daniel refused to walk down the drive and ran inside his residence, refusing to come out,” Sawyer wrote.

Sawyer got a search warrant. He said he saw the schnapps bottle through a window, lying on the bedroom floor.

At this point, with search warrant in hand, a third trooper showed up and told Daniel Oneill troopers were coming inside and that he should come to the door. He did not comply.

Sawyer said he and the two other troopers went inside and forced Daniel Oneill to the floor. He wrote that Daniel Oneill had to be tazered in order for troopers get control of his right arm.

“As I was exiting the front door with Daniel, he attempted to pull away and pushed me into the door jamb,” Sawyer wrote. “(He) had to be restrained further for officer safety as Daniel continued to resist and began to spit.”

Back at headquarters, Daniel Oneill added a final charge to the list when he refused to blow into the Breathalyzer machine.

For her part, Jodi Oneill blew a .093 on the Breathalyzer on scene and a .05 at the station two hours later. The legal limit for driving is .08. She was charged with drunken driving and jailed on $500 bail.

Daniel Oneill, on the other hand, was charged with tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution, drunken driving, reckless driving, resisting arrest and refusing a Breathalyzer. His bail was set at $2,500.

Jail records Monday afternoon showed both Oneills were still in the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.

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