Semi overturns, dumps beer along Glenn Highway in Mat-Su

A tractor-trailer hauling beer wrecked on the Glenn Highway on Tuesday morning, spilling cases and kegs along the roadside and slowing traffic.

Ken Barkley, director of emergency services at Mat-Su Emergency Services, said the crash at Mile 106 of the Glenn occurred shortly after 11:30 a.m.

"A truck rolled over and spilled its beer," Barkley said.

The driver received only minor injuries in the crash, including facial lacerations.

Alaska State Troopers said in a dispatch that 46-year-old Dante Cuaresma was at the wheel of the double tractor-trailer that crashed Tuesday.

"A semi tractor trailer, driven by (Cuaresma), reportedly wrecked at the bottom of the hill at Caribou Pass," troopers wrote. "The tractor detached from both trailers and rolled. One trailer was completely destroyed and the other trailer was also damaged."

Photos of the scene showed hundreds of containers of beer, including bottles and kegs of Alaskan Brewing Co. products, strewn along the highway's shoulder in the wake of the jackknifed Lynden Transport semi.

Barkley said passers-by initially treated Cuaresma, who was later taken to a hospital according to the dispatch, and flagged traffic in the area to a stop at the crash site.

Troopers said traffic on the Glenn was temporarily reduced to a single lane, as Lynden Transport crews responded to conduct a cleanup.