An Anchorage woman faces first-degree assault and drunken driving charges, after police say she struck and severely wounded a pedestrian early Saturday in a downtown hit-and-run collision.
Ariel Maskrey, 28, is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident in the collision at 4th Avenue and H Street. Police said in a statement that the 32-year-old man who was hit suffered what were initially believed to be life-threatening injuries.
The man had been released from the hospital by Tuesday, police said. But the collision comes during what has proven to be a deadly year for Anchorage pedestrians, with 13 struck by vehicles and killed so far this year.
According to a charging document against Maskrey, police responded to the scene shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday. A driver who witnessed the collision told police the victim had approached her parked car, then “began walking backwards and stumbling” when she waved him away. As he did so, she said, he was hit by a Chevrolet sedan with a woman behind the wheel.
“The driver of the sedan then backed the vehicle up and continued northbound, turning east on (West) 3rd Avenue,” police said in the complaint.
The man struck by the sedan received first aid from other witnesses and police, before medics took him to a local hospital. Police said he suffered a cracked skull in the collision, and he was initially unconscious and placed on a ventilator.
Using traffic cameras, officers were able to see part of the sedan’s license plate.. The charges say other traffic cameras showed the driver getting out of the vehicle when it became disabled near Arctic and Northern Lights Boulevards.
About an hour after the collision, police identified the sedan’s owner and visited his home. He allegedly told them his girlfriend, Maskrey – who was with him at the home – had been driving the car.
After officers arrested Maskrey she allegedly provided a breath sample with an alcohol content of .181, more than twice Alaska’s legal limit of .08.
According to court records, Maskrey’s bail was set at $40,000 during her initial court appearance Saturday. A judge set release conditions barring her from using alcohol or controlled substances, as well as visiting bars.
Maskrey was being held Tuesday at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
