A local man is accused of giving a bus full of drunks a ride to remember after he had a few too many drinks himself Thursday night.
According to Lt. Dave Parker, spokesman for the Anchorage Police Department, 35-year-old Donny H. Weston got out of a taxi in front of the Inlet Inn at 539 H Street in downtown and climbed into the driver's seat of a parked Community Service Patrol van, a service that transports the inebriated.
There were five unsuspecting clients on board, and the attendants were out of the vehicle helping a client that needed medical attention prior to transport.
Weston allegedly drove northbound on H Street and then turned eastbound on Fifth Avenue, a one-way westbound street. He was able to dodge traffic all the way to F Street, but there he is said to have hit a tour bus that is owned and operated by Royal Highway Tours.
No passengers were on the bus at the time of the accident, but two employees were on board. The door of the tour bus was forced shut and the Anchorage Fire Department was called to help remove the passengers.
Police estimate the total damage to the CSP bus and the tour van at $30,000. None of the occupants of either vehicle was injured.
Weston faces an array of charges -- ranging from vehicle theft to driving under the influence to reckless endangerment -- for which he is scheduled to be arraigned at 2:30 p.m. July 8.