ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 22-year-old Anchorage man has pleaded guilty to mowing down two pedestrians as he drove drunk early New Year's Day.
Tex Daniels II on Friday pleaded guilty to felony assault and misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol in the incident that seriously injured a woman and her boyfriend on a downtown street.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dismissed a second assault charge and a misdemeanor count of leaving an accident without offering assistance.
Daniels will be sentenced in August.
Ashley Brotherton, a special education teacher at Denali Montessori School, and Clayton Wilbanks, an employee at a car rental business, had moved from Colorado to Anchorage a few months before the crash. On New Year's Eve, they attended a concert by the band Pepper and were walking home after midnight.
Prosecutors said Daniels lost control of his pickup truck as he tried to pass another vehicle, climbed the curb and barreled onto the sidewalk at 50 to 60 mph. He hit the couple from behind and the truck spun into a snow bank. According to witnesses, he tried to drive away but was restrained by passers-by until police officers arrived.
Alcohol in Daniels' blood registered at .226, nearly three times above the .08 at which a driver is presumed drunk under Alaska law.
Brotherton suffered a broken neck, skull fractures and brain swelling. Her mother said she needed a machine to breathe after the crash and was unconscious for 36 hours.
Wilbanks suffered a lacerated scalp and spleen and his nose was broken.
The couple returned to their home state for Brotherton's recovery.
Daniels pleaded no contest to underage drinking charges in 2007 and 2008, according to court records.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com