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Police expect to file "extensive" charges against a 38-year-old man who allegedly drove toward an officer after striking a woman with a van in the Mendenhall Valley on Thursday night, resulting in a multi-mile police chase.

Juneau resident Victor Powell was medevaced to a Seattle hospital after he was knocked unconscious when the blue Ford van he was driving crashed through the guardrail at the intersection of Vanderbilt Hill Road and Egan Drive and landed about 150 feet onto the tidelands of the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge. His condition has not been released due to confidentiality laws, Juneau Police Department Sgt. Dave Campbell said.

The 41-year-old victim was medevaced to Anchorage, but police have not released her name or condition, he said.

"The fact that the female passenger was injured and injured to the point where she needed to be medevaced, I think that's a pretty clear indication that it's a serious injury," Campbell said. "If a person receives a serious injury and there is a dangerous instrument involved - you know, vehicles are deemed as dangerous instruments - then it's a felony assault. So there will be some form of felony assault (charge)."

Powell has not been charged with any crimes at this point in the investigation because of his medical status, Campbell said. Charges could include felony eluding, driving while intoxicated, various assault charges, reckless endangerment or others, he said. The investigation continues.

Police received a call at 5:51 p.m. on Thursday of a man drinking in a van on Mendenhall Mall Road, according to a police statement. When police responded, the vehicle failed to stop and police attempted to surround the vehicle.

The van momentarily stopped to allow two passengers to exit the vehicle - the 41-year-old victim and a 33-year-old man - before attempting to elude officers again. At that point the van struck the female passenger before driving toward police when an officer discharged his weapon, Campbell said.

The van fled the scene toward downtown on Egan Drive, and then on Glacier Highway starting at the Fred Meyer access. The van led police on a chase through Lemon Creek at speeds ranging from 40 to 50 mph before crashing into the wetlands around 6:10 p.m.

The officer fired four shots but did not injury anybody, JPD spokeswoman Cindee Brown-Mills said Thursday. The van was struck by gunfire, Campbell said.

The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues, he said.

"Just because the incident took place from 5:51 (p.m.) to 15 minutes later doesn't mean it ends for us," Campbell said. "This is a big deal to the point where we are going to be doing a full internal affairs investigation to determine exactly the scope of the incident, to see if there was anything criminally done on our end, and to see and make sure we followed all our procedures."

The Thursday incident is the first time a JPD officer has used a firearm in the line of duty since the fatal shooting of 40-year-old Randall Clevenger by Sgt. Paul Hatch on Aug. 10, 2007, near the Thunder Mountain Mobile Park. Hatch was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal investigation.

Campbell said it is department policy to put officers on administrative leave when he or she discharges a firearm in the line of duty.

"That's a procedure we use in all incidents like that because it's the best thing for the officer, it's the best thing for the department, (and) it's the best thing for the public," he said.

The department has not released the name of the officer involved in the shooting.

The District Attorney's office is involved in the investigation, and more information will be released as the case progresses, Campbell said.

"We are not going to be giving medical status updates or saying what exactly is wrong with them, other than if something major happened like if they passed away or something like that," he said.

State documents indicate that Powell has an extensive police record with multiple domestic violence assault arrests and a driving while intoxicated arrest.