A power outage in Nikiski this weekend was caused by a domestic dispute involving a car wreck, according to Alaska State Troopers. One man was arrested on six charges, and power is back to residents.
41-year-old John Covich of Nikiski drove his SUV at a “high rate of speed” into a truck with two occupants, a man and a woman, according to an affidavit from Alaska State Troopers. The impact drove the truck into a Homer Electric Association powerline pole, severing it and cutting power to the Nikiski neighborhood off Emerald Street.
On Saturday afternoon, HEA wrote in a Facebook post that the incident left 35 customers without power. Because of police investigations at the scene, HEA maintenance staff were unable to reach the location for repairs. HEA spokesperson KariAnn Baker says it took about 16 hours to restore power, and she says HEA called every customer individually to explain the unique situation.
Both occupants of the vehicle reported minor injuries from the collision. The driver of the impacted vehicle, fearing Covich would hit them again or cause other injury, used a handgun to fire several rounds at Covich’s vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Covich told troopers that he fled the scene when the shooting began, and troopers were unable to locate him for the first few hours of their investigation. He was eventually arrested on four counts of third-degree assault, one count of third-degree criminal mischief and one count of fourth-degree assault.
Due to his relationship with the female passenger, they are all considered domestic violence charges. Covich failed to appear at arraignments scheduled for Sunday morning and Monday morning and was set to be arraigned Wednesday at 10 a.m.
