Alaska State Troopers say two people fired at a pursuing officer Tuesday during a 100-mph chase on the Parks Highway, narrowly missing his head.
According to initial charging documents, Wasilla resident Daniel Buckwalter Jr., 24, and Houston resident Autumn Duczek, 41, were both arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal mischief and weapons misconduct in the incident. Buckwalter, the alleged driver during the chase, was also charged with DUI, reckless driving and failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer.
In the charges, troopers say police received multiple calls just before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday reporting a dangerous driver in a BMW sedan heading north on the Parks Highway. A Wasilla police officer tried to pull the sedan over on Nelson Avenue but it didn’t stop, soon traveling more than 80 mph on a 25-mph street.
After the sedan rejoined the Parks, running red lights and stop signs at more than 100 mph, it passed Trooper Jordan Spieth in his vehicle at the highway’s intersection with Vine Road, according to the charges.
“After the BMW passed Trooper Spieth, (he) advised over the radio that (the) suspect vehicle had shot at him,” troopers said in the charges.
Spieth followed the BMW, reaching 124 mph, but it still sped out of sight. Officers spotted the BMW stopped near Millers Reach Road in Houston, where another driver reported seeing its occupants run away.
“As Trooper Spieth and other law enforcement officers arrived on scene with the BMW, (he) reported 5-10 additional rounds were fired in the area,” charges said. “No law enforcement officer fired a round.”
A troopers SWAT team was sent to the area to conduct a search, which troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said Tuesday involved drones and a helicopter. The search temporarily closed the highway near Houston. Buckwalter and Duczek were found in a parked plane and taken to Wasilla police headquarters.
In interviews with investigators, Buckwalter and Duczek both allegedly admitted they had fired from the sedan during the chase.
“Daniel admitted to driving the vehicle and admitted to consuming methamphetamine (Tuesday) morning,” troopers said. “Daniel stated he has been seeing people trying to kill him and following him everywhere he goes.”
Troopers say Duczek told them she was an “active drug user.” She also allegedly claimed another man had forced her and Buckwalter into first the sedan and then the parked plane.
During her interview, troopers say, Duczek also assaulted an investigator and soiled the interview room.
Investigators found a bullet hole in the driver’s-side pillar of Spieth’s vehicle, just inches behind his window at the level of his headrest.
“The bullet had traveled through the door, striking the pillar, and the bullet was observed to be lodged in the defect in the door’s interior,” troopers said.
An accident reconstructionist with Wasilla police determined that if the bullet had been fired .002 seconds later, Spieth would have likely been struck in his head or neck.
Buckwalter was being held Wednesday morning at the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility. Duczek was being held at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River.
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.
