The Alaska Senate majority’s chief spokeswoman was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor for driving under the influence and a hit and run on Tuesday night.
According to charging documents, 38 year-old Senate press secretary Carolyn Kuckertz backed out of a parking space, struck one woman “hard enough to knock the glasses off her face” and another woman in the leg, “causing pain”.
Witnesses reported the driver and license plate, stating that she had stopped after the incident and seemed to know it had happened.
A statement said when Kuckertz was contacted by officers outside a daycare where Kuckertz was going to pick up her child, she was allegedly so intoxicated she swayed when she was standing.
After multiple tries, Kuckertz provided a breath sample which registered a blood-alcohol content of .208, over twice the legal limit of .08 percent.
She has been placed on leave without pay from the Senate.
The first woman struck was taken to the hospital in “extreme pain” and later released with no major injuries.
