Anchorage Daily News

A driver plowed through a utility pole and into a building in West Anchorage on Friday night, snapping the pole in half, destroying his truck and landing himself in the hospital with serious injuries, according to Anchorage police.

David Wallingford, who turns 37 today, appeared to have taken the turn near West Dowling Road too fast as he was driving his green 1996 Ford pickup southbound on Arctic Boulevard about 8:15 p.m., Sgt. Lee Rohwer said.

Wallingford was hospitalized and was undergoing an MRI to determine the extent of his injuries, which may have included internal damage, he said.

"At this point, they don't think it's life-threatening, but he certainly has broken bones," Rohwer said.

Wallingford was the only person in the vehicle, the remains of which came to rest mostly inside an office of the Airgas store on the corner next to the railroad crossing south of Tudor Road on Arctic.

The store was closed and there was no one inside at the time of the crash, said manager Mike Ririe. He was posting a guard to protect the building overnight while repair plans could be made.

Friday evening, debris from the truck littered the pavement for hundreds of yards from the utility pole to the store and beyond, with the rear axle of the vehicle resting far down the road from where the truck stopped with every window broken. The entire right panel of the truck's bed remained between the store and the pole, hubcaps and glass dotting the way.

The sight of the snapped pole slowed traffic as Chugach Electric workers examined damage. The top T of the pole dangled from the wires and the bottom half rested at an angle into the street.

Rohwer said they planned to remove the lower section and temporarily leave the top hanging. "They said the power lines are strong enough to support it, so they are going to leave it," he said.

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

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