Last updated at 5:50 p.m. on Monday, May 1
Late Sunday afternoon, Alaska State Troopers attempted to pull over a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria for a moving violation near mile 55 of the Seward Highway. In a dispatch, the agency wrote that the car sped up, ultimately causing a vehicle pursuit.
Troopers said they chased the car for almost 20 miles before putting spike strips on the pavement.
“The orange Ford swerved to avoid the spike strips, smashing into a guardrail, before losing control and striking a stationary vehicle in a line of cars that had been directed by AST to stop as a result of the vehicle pursuit,” troopers said. ” The stationary vehicle hit was a black Dodge Durango, which in turn hit a white 2013 Ford pick-up, causing damage to both vehicles and the suspect vehicle.”
Two troopers received injuries and were treated at separate Anchorage hospitals, according to charging documents.
After hitting the parked vehicles, the driver, later identified as Reily W. Arambul, fled south towards Seward with two flat tires. He reached speeds over 100 mph, troopers wrote, but the car was disabled near mile 62 of the highway. Arambul, 31 of Homer, attempted to run but was taken into custody by state law enforcement.
Arambul admitted to smoking meth at around 3 a.m. Sunday. He failed a field sobriety test at the scene and was taken into custody.
Kelly Jeffries, her husband and two kids were inside their white Ford pickup waiting in the line of vehicles stopped by troopers.
“It was really scary. If you listen to the video, my kids are terrified. We’re terrified. You hear me screaming, ‘oh god,’ because you just saw it coming,” Jeffries said.
She believes the troopers could have handled the situation in a different manner.
“We were just really shocked that that’s the way they handled that,” she said, referring to the decision by troopers to deploy the spike strip near the parked vehicles. “We felt like they could have put some flares across the road and moved about half a mile up the highway and set up their strip to stop that guy and maybe keep everybody a little safer.”
Jeffries said her family is dealing with some whiplash, as well as some shoulder, neck and lower back pain, but is otherwise fine.
Arambul had a warrant out for his arrest for a probation violation. For Sunday’s crimes, he’s charged with a drug related DUI, failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer, reckless driving, four counts of third-degree assault, leaving the scene of an accident, and was also cited for having no vehicle insurance.
He was taken to the Anchorage Correctional Complex, and the car was impounded.
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