FIFTH AVENUE: After hitting curb near Airport Heights, auto flies into opposing traffic.
A man speeding to a golf game triggered a wild wreck Saturday on Fifth Avenue that banged up four vehicles and injured five people, and then he fled the scene on foot, police said.
Juan M. Puliddo-Castaneda, 24, was arrested a short time later, six miles away, standing out front of Anchorage Golf Course on O'Malley Road and preparing for a round of golf, authorities said.
"He was at the golf course getting his tee time," said Patrol Sgt. Dave Koch, one of the officers who handled the call.
"I do not even have words to describe how crazy that is," Traffic Unit Lt. Nancy Reeder said glumly after learning the details of the wreck while shopping at Sam's Club with her family and relaying them by telephone to a reporter. "I have no idea why we didn't have a fatality out there this morning."
The accident occurred just before noon. Police said Puliddo-Castaneda was speeding west on East Fifth Avenue in a black Mitsubishi when he lost control near Airport Heights Drive, slammed into the back of another vehicle, hit a curb and launched into the air.
Two male college students in their early 20s, visiting from Mexico, were in the car with Puliddo-Castaneda and had been "begging him to slow down," Reeder said. The two men barely knew the driver, she said.
The Mitsubishi sailed across the median, flipped upside down while in flight, then plowed into another vehicle going in the opposite direction.
The three people in that car were from Washington state and considering moving to Alaska, Reeder said. All were hurt. The driver appeared to have the worst injuries, what looked to be compound fractures to his leg, police said. All three were wearing seatbelts. Medics took them to Alaska Regional Hospital.
The passenger in the front of Puliddo-Castaneda's vehicle was held in place during the wreck by an airbag and a seatbelt, police said. The man in the back, unbelted, wasn't so lucky: he was ejected from his seat.
"He pretty much rattled his spinal cord," Koch said. The man was immobilized and taken to a hospital.
None of the people involved appeared to have life-threatening injuries, police said. A fourth car was also somehow damaged in the collisions.
The two men in Puliddo-Castaneda's vehicle were in good enough condition to help authorities find the driver after he abandoned his car and them.
The men told police they had met Puliddo-Castaneda the evening before at a bar. "They had been up drinking all night long," Reeder said. The pair said Puliddo-Castaneda was rushing to drop them off at a hostel so he could get to a golf game, Reeder said.
Police do not know exactly how fast the Mitsubishi was going when the accident happened. "It takes some significant speed to go airborne across four lanes of traffic and land upside down on another vehicle," Reeder said. "Just to be able to get your vehicle airborne -- that's some speed."
Officers called the golf course, gave an employee a description of the driver, and asked if they'd seen him.
"And guess who they find," Reeder said. "Isn't that incredible?"
Police were uncertain how he got to the South Anchorage golf course. The driver didn't say much to the officers who confronted him, according to Koch.
"He said 'I think I need a lawyer.' He was right."
Puliddo-Castaneda was charged with drunken driving, reckless driving, assault and leaving the scene of an accident. He was taken to Anchorage Jail with his bail set at $50,000, police said.
Daily News reporter Tataboline Brant can be reached at tbrant@adn.com or 257-4321.
