Police: Driver of SUV in fatal Anchorage hit-and-run charged

The suspected driver in the East Anchorage hit-and-run crash that killed a 24-year-old man Saturday is facing a felony charge, Anchorage police said.

Police were contacted by an attorney for 39-year-old Clyde Reynolds, spokeswoman Renee Oistad said Tuesday, in connection with the vehicle-pedestrian collision at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday that killed Jacob Askoak. The collision on Fourth Avenue east of Boniface Parkway prompted police to seek public help finding the suspect vehicle — a blue Mercedes-Benz SUV.

Reynolds was initially arrested on one count of failure to render aid following an injury collision. He made an initial court appearance at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on Tuesday; Askoak's family watched as he answered a judge's routine questions about his charge.

Outside the Anchorage jail, the victim's mother, Delores Askoak, said her son's death has affected her large family spread across the state.

"Please continue to pray for yourself," Delores Askoak said in a message to Reynolds. "I don't know what you were thinking, but we forgive you. We're a forgiving family."

Anchorage District Attorney Clint Campion said Tuesday afternoon that prosecutors are "still assessing the evidence" in the case, and that additional charges may be filed.

"We haven't made a final decision — the investigation's still open," Campion said. "We think, at this stage, we have information to support the charge that we've filed."

Failure to render aid is an unclassified felony that carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison and up to a maximum sentence of 99 years.

A court document containing information on the case, written by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Shorey, said police responding to the scene found Askoak lying on Fourth Avenue roughly 300 feet from the intersection. Medics took him to the Alaska Native Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Shorey wrote that a witness to the collision told police he had heard "a thump followed by another thump" at the time of the crash. He then saw the Mercedes head west on Fourth, then turn north on Boniface Parkway.

Officers found pieces of the vehicle's grille at the scene, as well as tire marks on the pavement.

"Police determined from the treadmarks that the suspect vehicle was traveling approximately 45 mph in the 25 mph residential zone," Shorey wrote.

Reynolds' attorney, Rex Butler, left a message with police Sunday indicating he knew the vehicle's location and had its ignition key. That message wasn't received by an investigator until Monday night, when police also got an anonymous call naming Reynolds as the driver and claiming that he had confessed to hitting a pedestrian in his mother's SUV.

Police went to Reynolds' address and found a Mercedes-Benz ML320 registered to his mother parked outside. The SUV's hood had been pushed in, Shorey said, and was missing part of its grille "consistent with a piece found at the scene."

Reynolds was taken into custody at Butler's office as police towed the SUV from his home.

Reynolds' decision to come forward in the collision was a factor in the court system's initial handling of the case, Campion said.

"Frankly, but for him turning himself in through his lawyer, we're not sure when we would have been able to contact him," Campion said. "That kind of is a factor for the court in determining appropriate bail, and I think that'll come up at the bail hearing."

Defense attorney Butler did not appear for the hearing; Reynolds told the jail court judge that they weren't made aware of it.

Sam Quast, an intern for the Anchorage District Attorney's Office, said Reynolds has a prior felony and the state was more concerned about his ability to follow bail conditions if released than whether or not he'd appear for hearings.

Over Reynolds' objections that steps were being taken without an attorney, he had a $5,000 bond added to an initial bail set at $15,000, as well as the addition of a third-party custodian requirement.

Delores Askoak said Reynolds' arrest offered her some relief, but the grief of losing her son was the foremost thought in her mind. She said Jacob Askoak was born in Bethel but grew up around Alaska — in Kodiak, the Aleutian chain and Yukon communities — forming relationships with many people.

"My son was an outgoing, helpful person," Delores Askoak said. "He would never say no to friends and family."

When an officer arrived at her doorstep, Delores Askoak said she initially thought maybe her son had got into trouble with the law. But then she was told about the fatal crash.

"That's the worst news any mother could ever hear."