A Soldotna man has been charged with reckless driving and endangerment after being involved in a high-speed chase with a passenger in the car, according to an affidavit filed by state troopers on Sunday.
Travis Mchone, 32, was driving southbound on the Sterling Highway between Sterling and Cooper Landing on Saturday when a trooper going northbound recognized his vehicle, a red Pontiac Grand Am. According to the affidavit, the same trooper had attempted to stop Mchone for speeding the night before, but Mchone did not pull over and instead drove down several frontage roads until troopers had lost sight of him. After confirming it was the same vehicle and driver as before, the trooper made a second attempt to stop Mchone.
According to the affidavit, Mchone turned his right blinker on to indicate he was attempting to pull over, but suddenly switched to his left blinker and passed the car in front of him in excess of 100 mph. The trooper followed Mchone nearly 20 miles as Mchone sped through Sterling. Eventually, Mchone made a sharp right onto Grandview Road and turned down a power line trail. It was then that Mchone got his vehicle stuck in a snowbank and troopers were able to apprehend him with the assistance of a K-9 unit. Troopers realized at that time that Mchone was driving with a passenger. The passenger told troopers that she tried to get Mchone to stop several times during the chase and that Mchone told her repeatedly to shut up and light him a cigarette, according to the affidavit.
Mchone faces one count of failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, a class C felony, one count of third-degree assault, a class C felony, one count of reckless driving, an unclassified misdemeanor, and one count of reckless endangerment, an class A misdemeanor.
