A woman has been arrested in a South Anchorage hit-and-run that left a local man seriously injured last weekend, with police saying she faces assault and DUI charges.
According to APD spokesperson Dani Myren, 20-year-old Kayla Johnson was arrested without incident Friday afternoon, after police say she was at the wheel of her black 2006 Chrysler PT cruiser when it struck 18-year-old Tevin George on Huffman Road.
George was initially listed in critical condition; as of Friday afternoon, he remains in treatment for a head injury he received in the crash. Shortly after the collision, his family appealed to the public for help in finding the driver who struck him.
Myren says that George and his friend, 17-year-old Allen Cragle, were walking east along the north side of Huffman, from a Holiday convenience store near the Seward Highway's exit at Huffman. Shortly after they passed Huffman's intersection with Gregory Road at about 4 a.m. Saturday, Cragle and George decided to cross the road.
"It looks like they were crossing from the north to the south side of the road, and the vehicle was heading east," Myren said. "(Cragle) made it all the way over to the other side, and then Tevin George was struck."
Police say Johnson drove away after hitting George, leaving police to reconstruct the incident from several pieces of information.
"One of those pieces was literally pieces of the vehicle that had been found at the scene," Myren said.
Myren credited informants with providing a pivotal break in the case Thursday, when investigators received a tip on the PT Cruiser's location before it was found parked in a residential driveway.
"There were citizens who came forward with information, and they were able to determine Kayla Johnson, the owner of the vehicle, was also the driver at the time of the incident," Myren said. "They were also able to determine that she was intoxicated."
Johnson has been charged with first-degree assault, DUI, leaving the scene of an injury accident, failure to render aid and driving with a revoked license. She was remanded to the Anchorage Jail, where she is being held on $75,000 bail pending arraignment Saturday afternoon.
Contact Chris Klint