Troopers arrest Palmer man on DUI charge after pickup hits moose in Wasilla

Alaska State Troopers arrested a 52-year-old Palmer man on a DUI charge Monday after a trooper watched his pickup strike a moose on the Cottonwood Creek Bridge on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway in Wasilla.

The trooper was driving eastbound on the highway at about 6:30 am when the pickup hit the moose, according to the troopers' daily dispatch. Troopers investigating the crash determined the driver was intoxicated, the dispatch says.

The man was taken to Mat-Su Pretrial and released on his own recognizance. Under state law, a person released that way does not post bail but must appear in court when ordered and obey the law.

Troopers say charges in their dispatches are accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

It is the second arrest of its kind this fall. In September, troopers arrested a driver for DUI after a car struck a moose near Soldotna, Alaska News reported Sept. 27.

A state wildlife research report on moose-vehicle collisions in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys counted 515 such collisions in the Mat-Su Borough since June 2016. Statewide, it says, Alaska recorded 9,949 moose-vehicle collisions from 2000 through 2012, which killed 23 people.

State wildlife materials say collisions can happen at any hour but increase around dawn and dusk and peak in winter. Monday's crash fell within that higher-risk window.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game advises drivers to slow down in bad weather, at night or when visibility is reduced, scan both sides of the road, keep their distance and watch for more than one moose. It also asks drivers to report any moose collision to local police or 911, even a minor one.