A 24-year-old Anchorage resident is facing multiple charges after leading police on a chase and then crashing into a gas pump pillar near Dowling Road on Friday.
An Anchorage police officer saw a red 2005 Chevrolet Malibu driving recklessly on the Old Seward Highway around 11:24 p.m., according to a statement from police.
“The vehicle was swerving across lanes and hit the median several times,” police wrote.
The officer tried to pull the vehicle over near the intersection of Old Seward and Gambell Street, but the driver refused to stop and continued southbound on the highway, driving at approximately 30 miles per hour, according to police.
The vehicle ran a red light at Old Seward and International Airport Road and then accelerated. The driver, identified as Brittany Haselow, attempted to make a right turn onto Dowling but became airborne due to her high speed. She “ran over a curb and up a hill, crashed through a fence” and then collided with a cement barrier pillar at a Tesoro gas station.
Both the vehicle and the pillar were damaged extensively, according to police, but “there were no observations of any gas leaking from the pump itself.”
Haselow crawled out of the driver’s side window and tried to run away from the crash, police said. Several officers were already at the scene and took Haselow into custody before she escaped from the parking lot. She was evaluated at the scene for minor injuries.
A male passenger in Haselow’s vehicle was uninjured during the crash and was not charged with any crime.
Police noted a gun was found in the vehicle, a violation of Haselow’s status as a felon.
Haselow faces charges of operating under the influence of alcohol, third-degree criminal mischief, third-degree misconduct involving a weapon and reckless endangerment, according to police spokeswoman Renee Oistad. Haselow also had a felony warrant out for her arrest. She was taken to the Anchorage Correctional Complex and held on bail of $25,000 cash corporate with a third party custodian and $5,000 cash performance.
