Police have arrested a driver they say struck and severely injured a pedestrian on an East Anchorage road Saturday night.
Officers took 36-year-old Eric Potter into custody on charges of operating under the influence in a collision that happened just before midnight along Muldoon Road, according to Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Renee Oistad. Police said Potter had been headed north in Muldoon's right-hand lane in a Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV.
"Just south of East Northern Lights, a 36-year-old male pedestrian stepped out into the roadway and was struck by Potter," Oistad wrote. "The pedestrian was not in a crosswalk. The victim was transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries."
Potter, who Oistad said remained at the scene but declined to take a breathalyzer test, was subsequently taken to the Anchorage Correctional Complex. Court records show Potter previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI charges in 2003 and 2005.
Muldoon was temporarily closed northbound at 32nd Avenue for about two hours after the collision.
It was the second instance of a vehicle striking a pedestrian on Anchorage roads in less than 24 hours. Early Saturday morning, police said an active-duty serviceman was found badly hurt on Boniface Parkway near Perry Drive after he had been struck in an apparent hit-and-run. The vehicle believed to be involved was later found, but police were still looking for its driver as of Saturday night.