An Anchorage police officer ending his shift Tuesday morning hit and killed a moose that ran in front of his vehicle and smashed through the windshield, according to police.
The officer suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from a hospital after receiving stitches in his head, police Lt. Dave Parker said.
The police vehicle, a 2005 Chevrolet Impala, suffered a broken windshield, bent steering wheel and broken light bar but should be repairable, Parker said.
The crash took place near the intersection of Northern Lights Boulevard and Muldoon Road at about 4 a.m. as the officer, Cole Grigg, was heading home, Parker said.
The moose ran out into the darkened road and left the officer no time to avoid it, he said. It broke through the windshield, its flailing legs kicking officer and vehicle.
"It busted it up pretty good. It came through the windshield and it bent the steering wheel," he said. "It kind of knocked the light bar askew. I think it probably caught it with a foot."
A damage estimate on the vehicle, which cost the city about $21,000 new, was not immediately available. Parker said it did not appear to be totaled, and a body shop the city uses should be able to fix it up.
The moose, described as small and possibly a yearling, was donated to charity, police said.
Parker said dark and icy conditions, combined with moose's proclivity toward walking on roads, can be a dangerous combination this time of year.
"People need to be extra wary; the lighting is not good this time of year," Parker said. "But there's nothing you can do to protect against moose except to get a cow catcher. You just look out as best you can, but sooner or later you're going to smack one."
Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.
Reader-submitted: Moose sightings
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com