Woman jailed after allegedly fleeing police

PALMER -- A Wasilla woman was charged with two felonies after she crashed into a tree trying to elude a Wasilla police officer in her Ford Bronco.

Rita Lorraine Domrude, 40, was apprehended Sunday at 4 a.m. after leading officer Kelly Swihart on a chase beginning at Lucas and Spruce. Swihart said in an affidavit that he was backing up another officer on a traffic stop at that location when he heard another car "sliding" toward the intersection, then head east on Spruce.

"I estimated the vehicle's speed at 70 mph on Spruce, which is a posted 35 mph street," Swihart said in charging documents.

He said he turned on his lights and followed two car-lengths behind. The Bronco turned onto Buckeye, and Swihart activated his patrol car's siren "as the vehicle accelerated away from me," he said.

The chase continued another quarter mile to the end of Buckeye, according to charging documents. Then Domrude drove her car up a driveway, around a garage and hit a tree, Swihart said.

A passenger in Domrude's car told police "he was scared and afraid he was going to die while the driver was trying to elude the police," charging documents said.

Police said Domrude had a strong odor of alcohol and her speech was slurred. She registered .175 on a blood alcohol test, police said.

She was charged with failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer in the first degree, a class C felony; third-degree assault, a class C felony; as well as driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Domrude was lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in lieu of $3,500 bail and a court-approved, third-party custodian.