Iditarod

Iditarod musher Aliy Zirkle says repeated 'assault' on her team by a snowmachiner was terrifying

NOME — Iditarod musher Aliy Zirkle said an "assault" last weekend by a man on a snowmachine lasted for hours, and she felt like a hostage in the Alaska wilderness.

Arnold Demoski of Nulato is accused of intentionally driving a snowmachine into Zirkle's team and then the team of four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King early Saturday morning. One of King's dogs, Nash, was killed, and at least two other dogs were injured.

Despite the encounters, Zirkle finished the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska in third place Tuesday morning.

"Over the course of almost two hours one man, by using his snowmachine, made prolonged, aggressive and what I believe to be deliberate threats to me and my team," she said in a statement posted on the Iditarod website.

"I was terrified. Had it not been for my defensive reactions, we could have been maimed or killed," she said.

Demoski has said he was returning home from a night of drinking in a neighboring village when he struck the teams. He was going about 100 mph when he crashed into King's team and about 40 mph when he struck Zirkle's team, court documents show.

He turned himself in to authorities Saturday morning after hearing about the incidents and checking his snowmachine, which he found damaged. He has been charged with assault, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

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Demoski's attorney, Bill Satterberg, declined comment to The Associated Press this week, saying he doesn't speak on pending cases. He didn't immediately return a call left before business hours Thursday seeking comment on Zirkle's statement.

Zirkle said she has mushed on Alaska trails for 20 years and does everything she can to make sure both she and her team are seen. She also said she is experienced in sharing those trails with other users.

"It is on these trails with my dogs that I feel most comfortable and confident," she said. "That changed on the morning of March 12."

Zirkle continued into the race checkpoint in Nulato after the incident, which she said occurred over a 17-mile stretch of trail. She said she would have scratched from the race had it not been for the support of the Iditarod judge, the veterinarians, other people with the race and Nulato residents.

"They provided me with practical and moral support and I would not have continued the race without their insistence and encouragement. I thank them all very much for what they did that night," she said.

Zirkle said her dog Clyde couldn't continue in the race. Clyde is being reunited with Zirkle in Nome. The rest of her team is healthy and no other dogs were injured, she said.

"I also have no injuries. However, I am very sad and angry," she said, adding that her anger is "with only one man."

She didn't release a detailed account of the incident, and said this is all she is prepared to make public.

''Those close to me know the full story, as does the Alaska state trooper to whom I gave my statement," she said. "The events of the night were extremely distressing to me, and I do not wish to make any further public statements on the matter."

Mark Thiessen, Associated Press

Mark Thiessen is a reporter for the Associated Press based in Anchorage.

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