Troopers arrest Anchorage man after 85 mph pursuit ends in Wasilla crash

Luke Debaere, 23, of Anchorage, crashed into trees at a Susitna Drive home in Wasilla Thursday night, ending a 4.7-mile pursuit that Alaska State Troopers say reached 85 mph in residential areas.

Troopers clocked his silver 2011 Ford Escape at 73 mph in a 45 mph zone on the Parks Highway near Crusey Street about 9:37 p.m. and tried to stop him. He fled, leading a seven-minute chase. He ran lights and signs, drove on shoulders, crossed center lines and nearly hit multiple vehicles, according to the B Detachment dispatch.

Debaere ran from the wrecked vehicle and was found tangled in fencing at a nearby residence.

He showed signs of impairment and admitted consuming marijuana earlier that day and alcohol that morning, troopers said. Marijuana products were found in the vehicle. He was remanded to the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility on charges of failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, reckless driving and DUI. He is presumed innocent.

The pursuit is at least the third through Mat-Su this summer in trooper dispatches. Alaska News covered the July 7 arrest of a 21-year-old Anchorage man after an 80 mph chase near Lucille Street in Wasilla, and the July 11 death of Cecil Nelson, 57, of Wasilla, who was ejected from his vehicle after fleeing troopers at about 100 mph.

The National Police Accountability Project says such pursuits can create public-safety hazards that outweigh the benefit of immediate capture in residential areas, a general critique rather than a comment on this chase.

The dispatch is the troopers' account alone, with no response from the driver or an attorney.