Crime & Courts

After fatal car crash, Anchorage man charged with felony for providing alcohol to minors

An Anchorage man was charged Friday with a felony for supplying alcohol to minors following a fatal car crash in February that left a 17-year-old dead.

Police say it's the first time an Anchorage adult has been charged with a felony for supplying alcohol to minors since the state statute was put in place in 2002.

Robert Lee Green III, 30, was charged Friday with two felony counts of furnishing alcohol to minors that resulted in injury or death, according to online court records.

Police say Green supplied alcohol to three minors who were later involved in a fatal Feb. 20 car crash that left 17-year-old Brandon Muller dead. The Chevy Trailblazer Muller had been driving rolled multiple times at the intersection of Commodore Drive and O'Malley Road, where it crashed through a residential fence. Muller was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other minors in the vehicle, an 18-year-old male and 16-year-old female, were transported to the hospital after the crash.

All three minors were found to be under the influence of alcohol, the release states. The 18-year-old male and 16-year-old female were later charged with underage alcohol consumption.

In the following months, APD investigator Steve Dunn determined that Green was responsible for supplying the alcohol to the minors that night. Green was arrested and taken to Anchorage Correctional Complex where he was held at $5,000 bail.

It's the first time the Anchorage Police Department has enforced an Alaska statute allowing for a felony charge when the furnishing of alcohol to a minor results in injury or death, APD spokesperson Anita Shell said.

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Enacted in 2002, House Bill 330 was passed after Anchorage police officer Justin Wollam and three others were killed in 2001, when intoxicated Robert Esper collided with Wollam's patrol car, the release states. Esper was provided alcohol by two adults who were charged with misdemeanor furnishing alcohol to minors. The following year, HB 330 created a new subsection in the Alaska statutes providing for a felony charge for cases of furnishing alcohol where a minor causes death or injury.

Green's trial is currently scheduled for October.

Laurel Andrews

Laurel Andrews was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in October 2018.

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