11:45 a.m. update:
Kasilof resident Doug Pardue, 22, has been arraigned in Kenai Court on several charges including first-degree attempted murder.
He is accused of shooting through the window of a truck that was passing him near Moose Pass early Monday morning. During his arraignment at the Kenai Courthouse, Judge Jennifer Wells appointed the Public Defender’s Office to Pardue’s case.
Attempted murder is an unclassified felony, which means Pardue will be held without bail. He is also charged with third-degree assault, misconduct involving weapons in the first and fourth degrees, criminal mischief in the fourth degree and reckless endangerment.
While reading aloud from an Alaska State Trooper affidavit during the hearing, Wells said Pardue told troopers during an interview he had been tired while driving, and he had not been aiming specifically at the man in the passing truck, Eagle River resident Nathan Shearer.
Shearer had been on his way to Nikiski for work, Wells read from the affidavit, and the shot came through his passenger side window during his third attempt to pass Pardue.
Pardue told troopers he usually keeps his gun on the passenger side of his car, and that the shot had only been meant to scare Shearer, Wells said as she read from the affidavit. He told them he was looking at the road when he fired the shot.
A preliminary hearing for Pardue was set for April 1.
Unclassified felonies carry a punishment of up to 99 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
Original story:
A Kasilof man has been charged with attempted murder and a slew of other charges after troopers say he shot through the window of a vehicle while it was passing him on the Seward Highway on Monday.
At about 6:30 a.m. Monday, troopers in Soldotna got multiple 911 calls from Nathan Shearer of Eagle River, saying the incident happened as he passed a car at about mile 56 of the Seward Highway heading toward Soldotna, according to an online Alaska State Trooper dispatch.
“As Shearer passed a vehicle, he stated he saw a flash, accompanied by a loud bang and then his front right passenger window busted out,” troopers wrote in the dispatch.
Doug Pardue, 22, was taken to the Wildwood Pretrial Facility and charged with first-degree attempted murder, third-degree assault, misconduct involving weapons in the first and fourth degrees, criminal mischief in the fourth degree and reckless endangerment.
When troopers examined Shearer’s vehicle, they found one round had struck the front right passenger window, gone through the compartment — missing Shearer — and out the driver side window, according to the dispatch.
Troopers and Soldotna Police found Pardue in Soldotna, and troopers seized his firearm when they interviewed him.
— Staff Report
