Wrong-way pursuit on Seward Highway at rush hour ends in arrest

A rush-hour pursuit Monday on the Seward Highway ended with a suspect in custody after he drove the wrong way down the divided highway and hit two vehicles, according to Anchorage police.

Vincentt David McQuaid, 24, faces multiple counts of felony assault, as well as failure to stop at the direction of a police officer, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Renee Oistad said in a statement.

No one was injured in the incident.

Dispatchers first got word that McQuaid, at the wheel of a white 2002 Subaru Outback, was heading north in the Seward's southbound lanes near Huffman Road at about 7:40 a.m., according to Oistad.

"As officers began arriving in the area, the suspect driver actively evaded capture and almost hit police vehicles more than once," Oistad wrote. "The reason for McQuaid's behavior is still under investigation."

Oistad said that while not all of the half-hour pursuit took place on the Seward, it remained a threat to public safety until McQuaid was arrested.

"He made loops, but there was a lot of wrong-way driving and it was not at slow speeds," Oistad said. "At one point the pursuit was called off, but the dangerous behavior did not stop; we continued to receive calls, so we had to re-engage."

When police stopped McQuaid on the highway just after 8:15 a.m., between Dowling and Tudor roads, he was still traveling north in the southbound lanes.

Officers hadn't received any other reports of vehicles in distress or collisions indirectly linked to Monday's chase, Oistad said. Further details on the collisions involving McQuaid were pending in police reports.

McQuaid's criminal record includes misdemeanor convictions in 2012 and 2015 for operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a collision involving damage. McQuaid pleaded no contest in both offenses, which took place in Anchorage, according to online court records.