The suspected drunken driver who killed a taxi driver after allegedly running a red light last weekend had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and may have had cocaine in his system, according to documents filed in court Friday charging him with manslaughter and driving under the influence.

Police say Lawrence A. Brewer, 39, may have also been preparing to leave the state in the wake of the Saturday wreck that killed Yellow Cab driver Dale Polkarney.

Officers arriving at the scene of the wreck, at Fireweed Lane and Arctic Boulevard, found an empty beer can, a 40-ounce malt liquor bottle and an empty liquor bottle in Brewer's Dodge Stratus, according to an affidavit filed in court by APD traffic investigator Rick Steiding.

Brewer told a doctor at Alaska Regional Hospital he drinks every day and also uses cocaine; he had used cocaine within a day of the collision, according to the affidavit. Brewer's blood-alcohol level, based on a sample taken at the hospital, was estimated to exceed .20, Steiding wrote.

Brewer's Stratus had been headed north on Arctic at 1:53 a.m. Saturday when it ran through the red light at Fireweed and plowed into Polkarney's westbound Ford Crown Victoria, according to police. Polkarney, in "tremendous pain" and apparently not wearing a seat belt, was pinned inside the vehicle but was conscious when officers arrived, Steiding wrote. He died at the hospital.

Brewer was already outside his vehicle with blood on his face, bloodshot eyes and smelling of booze, Steiding wrote. Brewer told a police officer he was sorry and that he had recently been in a fight with his girlfriend and his twin boys. All four were living with Brewer's sister about six blocks away from the wreck.

"I had too much to drink. I drove and I should not be driving," Brewer told the officer, according to Steiding's affidavit. He said he was going to jail for a long time. "I don't care. ... I just want to die."

Police collected several blood samples for testing and again contacted Brewer and his sister Thursday, when his sister told them Brewer's friends were trying to get him to leave Alaska and that their parents in Oklahoma were waiting for him. Brewer told police he didn't plan to leave until the case was resolved. Police arrested him that evening.

At an initial court appearance Friday, Brewer hung his head as he softly answered District Judge Catherine Easter's questions. She appointed him a lawyer and held his bail at $50,000 with a third-party custodian requirement.

According to court records, Brewer has no criminal history, though he has several traffic citations.

Robert Croom, a coworker of Polkarney's at the cab company who was at the hearing, said he last talked to his friend of eight years about 45 minutes before the collision.

"It is one of the largest fears that we do have," Croom said of drunken driving wrecks. "We lost a really good friend. He was a really good person in the community and it's just sad that he's gone."