FUGITIVE CAPTAIN FAILS TO SHOW

By GEORGE FROST
Daily News reporter

ANCHORAGE- Alaska law enforcement authorities toyed with their handcuffs Monday while awaiting word of Capt. Joseph Hazelwood, the fugitive former master of the Exxon Valdez accused of being drunk when the giant tanker piled onto a wellcharted reef in Prince William Sound. They had been told he would surrender in New York, but he never showed up.

"I'm not nearly so frustrated as those people picking dead birds out of the water," said Larry Weeks, chief prosecutor for Alaska.

"Not nearly."

The elusive skipper, whose blood test put him over the legal limit for operating a vessel, slipped out of Valdez a week ago as investigators were putting together a case against him in preparation for his arrest.

The state contends that Hazelwood was under the influence of alcohol when he left the bridge of the tanker shortly before midnight and turned over control to Third Mate Gregory Cousins, who was unlicensed to operate the vessel through inland waters. The tanker ran aground on Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, setting off the largest spill in U.S. history.

As more than 10 million gallons of oil spewed from the ruptured steel hull, hesitancy and disorganization in the cleanup effort increased the odds against saving one of the richest marine environments in North America.

The criminal investigation, meanwhile, was going slowly, too, in part because investigators of the National Transportation Safety Board initially declined to turn over logs or make witnesses available for interviews.

Weeks said the captain probably boarded a plane Tuesday night in Anchorage and flew to New York. "What I hear is he used an Exxon credit card for the ticket," Weeks said.

Alaska prosecutors believe Hazelwood is somewhere in Suffolk County, Long Island. He has hired a New York City attorney, who called Sunday to try to make a deal. Weeks said that Hazelwood is also bargaining with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office to avoid a jail cell before standing trial on three misdemeanor charges.

"What he wants is lower bail," Weeks said. "He wants to make some arrangements so he doesn't have to spend time in the pokey. It could take months before we get a trial. We want to make sure there is something to make him come back" for trial.

"We have taken a posture of "no negotiations,' " said Weeks. "We'll take the $50,000" bail that is named in the arrest warrant.

A warrant was signed late Friday night by Valdez Magistrate Tracee Schnell charging Hazelwood with operating a vessel while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and the negligent discharge of oil, all misdemeanors. The maximum penalties are one year in jail and $5,000 for each of the first two charges and 90 days and $1,000 for the third.

A Suffolk County judge signed a similar fugitive warrant Sunday. New York police tried to serve the warrant at Hazelwood's home in Huntington, Long Island, but nobody was home and neighbors said they hadn't seen any activity for several days.

A New York City attorney claiming to represent Hazelwood called Alaska on Sunday with a message that his client wanted to surrender in Suffolk County, said Art English, commissioner of public safety. The waiting began.

"We were expecting him today but he didn't show up," said New York State Trooper William Nulvey, stationed in East Farmingdale, New York. Nulvey said late Monday night that Hazelwood is supposed to come in today, too.

"It's not definite he will show up. We have nothing concrete," he said.

Hazelwood, a 20year employee of Exxon Shipping Co., downed three or four drinks at a Valdez bar before boarding the tanker, according to statements of crew members quoted in the arrest warrant. Another witness said Hazelwood was unsteady at the helm. A blood test taken at least 91|2 hours after the ship grounded showed an alcohol level of .061, easily topping the .04 limit set by the Coast Guard.

Exxon has known about Hazelwood's bouts with alcohol since 1985, when he checked into a companysponsored alcohol treatment program. Although company officials said they believed he had mastered his problem, Hazelwood subsequently was arrested twice more for drunken driving.

Last November, the 42yearold Hazelwood had his driver's license revoked for the third time since 1984, according to New York driving records.

Exxon fired Hazelwood on Thursday.

A Seattle attorney who Exxon retained to represent the captain in civil litigation was off the case Monday and said he didn't know where his former client was staying. Michael Williamson, whose practice is maritime law, said he was never hired to defend Hazelwood on criminal charges.

"Exxon originally retained me to represent Joseph Hazelwood with respect to the National Transportation Safety Board hearings," Williamson said. "But as of a few minutes ago, I was advised by Exxon that they will no longer pay for Joe Hazelwood's legal defense."

Alaska State Troopers, chasing bogus leads throughout the state, thought they had tracked down Hazelwood late Friday night.

"We thought we had Hazelwood in the Anchorage airport," Weeks said. An airport employee called in to report the sighting of "a guy walking around looking very despondent and looking like the picture in your guys' paper," Weeks said.

If he surrenders, Hazelwood faces arrest and an appearance before a magistrate in New York, where he will be asked to waive extradition proceedings.

"If he declines to come back voluntarily and we have to begin extradition proceedings, then we would send somebody," Weeks said.

Alaska Attorney General Doug Baily said the state would "vigorously" press New York authorities for extradition if Hazelwood drags his feet. "We want to see him in an Alaska courtroom," he said.

---

Story Index: Main | The Captain	Overall: story 45 of 380 The Captain story 10 of 56