Kotzebue’s Fire chief is appearing in court today after being arrested on Saturday for drunk driving.
According to a press release from Kotzebue’s Police Department, 37-year-old Sean Ralston was driving the city’s Fire Chief vehicle when an officer stopped him outside his home.
Ralston showed signs of impairment during a Field Sobriety Test and was taken into custody. A police officer found one crushed and one half-full beer can on the driver side floor of the Fire Chief vehicle.
Ralston was taken to the Kotzebue Regional Jail, where he blew a .167 breath alcohol content. That’s more than twice the legal limit in the state of Alaska.
Ralston was charged with driving under the influence, and his arraignment is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 1:15.
Emily Russell is the voice of Alaska morning news as Alaska Public Media’s Morning News Host and Producer.
Originally from the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Emily moved to Alaska in 2012. She skied her way through three winters in Fairbanks, earning her Master’s degree in Northern Studies from UAF.
Emily’s career in radio started in Nome in 2015, reporting for KNOM on everything from subsistence whale harvests to housing shortages in Native villages. She then worked for KCAW in Sitka, finally seeing what all the fuss with Southeast, Alaska was all about.
Back on the road system, Emily is looking forward to driving her Subaru around the region to hike, hunt, fish and pick as many berries as possible. When she’s not talking into the mic in the morning, Emily can be found reporting from the peaks above Anchorage to the rivers around Southcentral.
