Anchorage Daily News

Kristopher Felber was drunk and stoned the morning he stole a truck and led police on a high-speed chase that he refused to end even when officers boxed in his vehicle, or when they opened fire on him, or when he slammed into another vehicle and instantly killed the husband and father of three who was driving.

The entire escapade was a bad decision, he said while asking for mercy at his sentencing Friday.

"I made the biggest mistake of my life that morning," a soft-spoken Felber, 24, said, his voice cracking. "I did not murder Stephen Strain. His death was an accident. However, I alone am the sole reason for his death and must pay for the mistakes I have made."

Superior Court Judge Philip Volland ordered Felber to serve 66 years in prison, saying that although Felber is young, his repeated run-ins with the law -- including two prior felonies -- paint a bleak picture of rehabilitation prospects.

"As a vehicular homicide case goes, this case is certainly about as serious as it gets," Volland said. "No question in my mind that this offense presents an extremely high degree of recklessness."

A handcuffed Felber sat expressionless in the courtroom while the judge read off sentences for each of the 23 charges, including second-degree murder and 17 felony assaults to which Felber previously pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors that opened the way for a total sentence of between 50 and 85 years.

Friends and family members of both Felber and Strain, who was 35, were present in the packed courtroom, both groups sometimes weeping aloud -- Felber's group at the length of his sentence and Strain's as the details of his death were discussed.

"You took the life of my son. You took the life of a husband, and you took the life of a father," Strain's mother, Cheryl Strain, said as she looked through tears at Felber. "You took from this world a life, a living being, a soul, and as a result, you affected more than just one person. I miss my son, and I know he's missed by all. You took that from us by your actions, and you should face the consequences as a man."

The defendant looked directly back at her, wincing and holding his eyes shut for long periods as he listened.

Also present was a squad of about a dozen police officers watching the case come to a close -- the men who risked their lives trying to stop Felber. Among them was Lt. Dave Koch, a nearly 30-year veteran of the force who at the time was the sergeant in charge of Felber's pursuit.

"There are only four or five people I will never forget. ... Kris Felber is one of them," Koch said. "My officers were very close to death that day, and many, many citizens were close to death that day."

Felber's rampage began in East Anchorage just before 8 a.m. Jan. 31, 2006, when Felber, fresh out of prison for stealing a neighbor's rent money and Microsoft Xbox, stole a pickup that was idling in a driveway near a friend's home.

Police spotted the erratically swerving vehicle moving west on Northern Lights Boulevard in rush-hour traffic and eventually tried to force him to a stop by boxing in the truck near the intersection of Lake Otis Parkway.

Felber, at first, stopped, but then began ramming police cars and broke free, police bullets chasing after him. The six shots hit the truck but not him, however, and Felber took off driving the wrong way in the eastbound lanes before turning north on Lake Otis.

At that moment, Strain, who worked on the North Slope, was leaving his Airport Heights home to run an errand before spending the day with his family. Hearing sirens from the nearing chase, his wife urged him before he left alone to take a back route to steer clear of danger.

"It turned out the back way was the wrong way, in terms of the risk that he incurred, but I think it reflects how this conduct by Mr. Felber truly placed members of the community at risk," Volland said.

At speeds nearing 90 mph, Felber gunned it to the intersection of 20th Avenue, where Strain was pulling out to make a left-hand turn on a green light. The explosive collision nearly tore Strain's vehicle in half, tossing debris from the pulverized Chevrolet Impala in all directions, including into passing vehicles.

With the pickup disabled in the mass of metal just north of the intersection, Felber kept going on foot. He ran through a nearby neighborhood until police using dogs caught him minutes later, stinking of booze and acting drunk.

Felber said he wasn't the driver, but scientists found his DNA on the truck's deployed air bag. Toxicology tests determined he was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time.

At the hearing Friday, the prosecution, led by John Novak, urged Volland to impose the maximum sentence allowed under the deal, 85 years, as he cited Felber's past. Twice before -- in 2002 and 2004 -- Felber had stolen idling vehicles and recklessly driven them, then fled police to avoid capture, he said.

"This is shockingly dangerous, calculated conduct over a substantial period of time," Novak said. "This kind of conduct can't happen, and the only way to make it not happen with regard to Mr. Felber is to lock him up."

Defense attorney Joseph Van De Mark asked Volland to throw the plea deal out and to instead impose a 20-year sentence. Other defendants convicted of murder in vehicular homicide cases -- even in cases with multiple victims -- are often given sentences between 10 and 19 years, he argued.

The 85 years being sought by the state was exceedingly harsh for the crime, he said.

"The court of appeals doesn't agree that this is a reasonable bargain," Van De Mark said. "This would be the maximum sentence -- 31 years to serve over the maximum sentence -- any individual has ever received, for worse acts than what Mr. Felber did."

Volland rejected the motion.

Felber pleaded guilty to the charges a year ago, but after prosecutors made clear their intent to seek the maximum, he tried to withdraw the deal, claiming his previous lawyer had coerced him into it by employing tactics such as choking him in open court. His effort to quash the plea agreement was denied that time as well.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.