A woman was arrested Monday afternoon after allegedly stabbing another woman in downtown Anchorage.

Three women began fighting around 12:41 p.m on the 200 block of East Fifth Avenue when one of them took out a knife and stabbed one of the other women.

The Anchorage Police Department responded to the scene and arrested the woman with the knife. The fight appeared to be over money, police say.

The stabbing victim was treated at the scene for minor cuts to her hand, according to APD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro.

A Palmer teenager suspected of throwing a rock that injured a woman sitting in a traveling car has confessed, officials say.

The 47-year-old woman was riding in a red Chevrolet Aveo, which was traveling south on Palmer Fishhook Road Sunday evening, when she was reportedly ”struck by [a] rock after it broke the passenger door window where she was sitting,” according to an online dispatch from Alaska State Troopers.

The injured woman was taken to Mat-Su Regional Hospital, troopers wrote.

AST responded to the area of Palmer Fishhook Road near New Hope Street and were able to find evidence the rock had been hurled from a wooded area near the roadway.

Monday, troopers identified a 15-year-old boy of Palmer as a possible suspect. The teen “gave a full confession to his role in the incident,” the trooper dispatch said. Charges are being sent to the Division of Juvenile Justice for review.

Juneau police are asking for the public’s help locating 32-year-old Derick Nathaniel Skultka, who is on the run with three warrants out for his arrest.

Tuesday, Skultka “left a trail of dangerous and reckless behavior,” according to a release from the Juneau Police Department.

At around 10 a.m., a JPD officer saw a vehicle in Douglas traveling more than 20 miles over the speed limit.

“When the officer initiated a traffic stop, Skultka ran from the officer in the area of Nowell Avenue, cutting through the brush between homes,” the JPD release states, adding that more officers were called to the area.

Efforts to find Skultka were initially unsuccessful. But hours later, police say he was driving on Egan Drive, near the McDonald’s, when he crashed “for no apparent reason.”

The vehicle came to a stop near the McDonald’s drive-thru. Skultka fled before police arrived at the scene, leaving his injured passenger, says JPD Lt. Sell.

Capital City Fire and Rescue responded to treat the female passenger, who JPD says owns the vehicle and is a known associate of Skultka’s.

“The warrants for Skultka have been trickling in all spring,” JPD says.

The first warrant came out in mid-February when Skultka failed to appear in court for charges of burglary and assault. In March, a $20,000 warrant was issued for another failure to appear in court, associated with the same burglary and assault case. In June, a $10,000 warrant was issued for the charge of fourth-degree misconduct involving drugs.

Juneau police say they want to find Skultka before he or someone else is injured. They believe he may have frequented the Switzer Village area.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is encouraged to call JPD at 907-586-0600.

A soldier stationed at Fort Wainwright was convicted and sentenced Friday for forcibly raping a girl while on base.

Spc. Nicholas Marcum, 28, was convicted of a single count of rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison by U.S. Army officers in a general court martial. As part of his sentence, he was also demoted to the rank of E-1 and is required to forfeit all pay and allowances, according to U.S. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell.

Charges were brought against Marcum in March after the victim came forward to report not only the rape, but that Marcum had also given her alcohol. The charge of providing alcohol to a minor was dropped prior to the trial, Pennell says. The victim was 15 years old at the time of the attack.

Marcum will serve his sentence at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Pennell says he will be dishonorably discharged from the Army after his release.

Courtesy Google Maps

Monday evening, 58-year-old Larson Edwards was arrested in connection with a restaurant fire in Bethel.

The fire occurred at 123 BBQ Express Restaurant, located at 120 State Highway, according to a Bethel Police Department press release. Crews responded to a report of smoke and flames coming from inside the building.

“The fire was extinguished and eventually ruled an arson,” the release says.

Court records showed Edwards, of Mekoryuk, was charged with second-degree arson, damaging a building with intent — a Class B felony.

One person is dead after an early morning shooting at the Alano Club in Spenard.

“We received a call about shots being fired inside and outside the Alano Club,” said Lt. Jason Schmidt with the Anchorage Police Department.

The call came in around 1:20 a.m. Saturday, according to an APD release.

When police arrived at Alano, located at 3013 Spenard Rd., they found a male who appeared to have been shot. APD has identified the victim as 18-year-old Alex Thanapong Yu.

One witness at the scene, who says he knew the victim, said he had just left Alano shortly before the shooting happened. He said he turned around and headed back to Alano immediately after he received a call that his friend had been shot.

“So I’m heading right back here and then I see, like, 20 cop cars,” the witness said, adding that he became more concerned once he saw a body bag. ”He’s over there with a bullet wound…I’m trying to make sure if he’s dead or alive.”

Medics tried to revive the victim, Schmidt said, but those efforts were unsuccessful. He was declared deceased at the scene.

Those who were inside the Alano at the time of the shooting were pretty shaken up, Schmidt says. Teens and young adults frequent Alano to attend the club’s “sober dance” events, and the lieutenant says it’s out of the ordinary for APD to respond to a violent crime at this location.

“When we arrived, there was a pretty large crowd. It got fairly unruly at one point,” Schmidt said, adding that at least 10 or 15 officers were at the scene at one point. “They were very upset over this situation, understandably so.”

No suspects have been taken into custody, as of Saturday morning. Police are in the process of interviewing witnesses in the ongoing investigation. Units from APD could still be seen at the crime scene at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting that has not yet spoken to police is encouraged to contact APD at 786-8900. To provide an anonymous tip, contact Anchorage Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP.

Anchorage police are asking for the public’s help identifying a sexual assault suspect.

Early Saturday morning, authorities received a report of a sexual assault in the area of Northern Lights Boulevard and Boniface Parkway, according to a release from the Anchorage Police Department. Police say the suspect was armed.

The suspect is described as a white male, 5’6″ tall, with a thin build who’s possibly in his 30s. He was last seen wearing a yellow baseball cap, blue jeans and brown boots.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to call APD Detective Vondolteren at 907-786-2684. Tips can also be submitted anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP.

From APD: If your child has had contact with Mosely and you believe they have been a victim, call APD at 786-8900.

Photo courtesy APD

A registered sex offender, also accused of stealing a car from a dealership and taken into custody last month, was indicted Thursday for allegedly sexually abusing two young girls.

Christopher Mosely, 30, of Anchorage was charged with one count of sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of attempted sexual abuse of a minor, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Law.

The girls’ grandmother reported the alleged abuse to the Anchorage Police Department, and APD took the children to Alaska Cares for forensic interviews and examinations.

If convicted, Mosely faces a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison for second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and 12 to 20 years for second-degree attempted sexual abuse of a minor, the DOL says. He was previously convicted for sexual abuse of a minor following a 2011 arrest.

APD believes Mosely could have victimized or tried to victimize other children. Authorities encourage anyone with information to contact Anchorage police at 786-8900.

An intoxicated Wasilla man was found passed out in his running vehicle Monday, troopers say. The vehicle was in drive, but the man’s foot was on the brake.

At around 6 a.m., a passerby called 911 to report that a man was slumped over in his vehicle at the intersection of E. Merrill Circle and S. Hay Street in Wasilla, according to an Alaska State Trooper online dispatch.

Troopers found 23-year-old Denali Simpson asleep in his vehicle with his foot resting on the brake. Further investigation revealed Simpson was intoxicated, AST says.

Simpson was arrested for DUI and for driving with a revoked license, as a result of a previous DUI. He was taken to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility where bail was set as $2,500 cash-corporate.

Last Rhodesian / MGN

The man accused of slaying nine black church members in Charleston was indicted on federal hate crime charges on Wednesday.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the 33 charges at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Lynch said Dylann Roof sought out African-Americans, in particular the African-American church Emanuel AME because of its historical significance.

The survivors and the families of those killed were informed earlier Wednesday about the indictment.

“To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race,” Lynch said. “An essential element of his plan, however, was to find his victims inside of a church, specifically an African-American church, to ensure the greatest notoriety and attention to his actions.”

Lynch said no decision to seek the death penalty has yet been made.

The move has been expected since Roof’s arrest after the June 17 shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston.

Federal officials have previously said that the shootings generally meet the legal requirements for a hate crime and that federal charges were likely. Roof, who is white, appeared in photos waving Confederate flags, and survivors told police that he hurled racial insults during the attack.

After the attack, an apparent manifesto of Roof’s popped up online. In it, he appears to write about his alleged plot, including why he picked Charleston as the site for the attack: “I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country.”

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An Anchorage school teacher has been charged with fraud and identity theft after she allegedly swindled thousands of dollars from an elderly woman, authorities say.

Susanna Difranco, 52, was charged with three counts of fraud and one count of identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska said in a Thursday release.

An indictment alleges that from March to April Difranco — who personally knew the woman — wrote checks and made transfers and withdrawals from the 77-year-old’s bank account ”for Difranco’s personal benefit for a total of over $70,000,” the release says.

With the money, Difranco paid her credit card bill and her daughter’s college tuition, prosecutors say.

The elderly woman did not know Difranco had gained access to her bank account and was taking her money, prosecutors say. Difranco is also accused of falsely telling bank officials she was helping to protect the woman’s money by moving it into a safety deposit box, ”when in fact she was stealing [the victim's] money and spending it for her personal benefit,” the release says.

The United States Postal Inspection Service, the Anchorage Police Department and the Alaska Office of Elder Fraud and Assistance conducted the investigation leading to the indictment.

Difranco is employed at Sand Lake Elementary, said Anchorage School District spokesperson Heidi Embley.

Anchorage police have arrested a man in connection with an April sexual assault on a trail near the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Last week, an Anchorage Police Department detective obtained an arrest warrant for 20-year-old Robert Gutierrez in connection with the April 8 attack. The charges include three counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of third-degree felony assault and one count of fourth-degree misdemeanor assault, according to a release from APD.

Gutierrez was incarcerated on an unrelated probation violation charge at the time, APD said, and was served in jail with the warrant. He was still at the Anchorage Correctional Complex when APD issued their statement around 10:45 a.m. Thursday.

The victim — who knew Gutierrez and did not live in Anchorage — told police the 20-year-old offered her a place to stay. When they were walking through the woods near Mosquito Lake, Gutierrez allegedly pushed her to the ground and assaulted her.

Both UAA police and APD were involved in the investigation.

A Wrangell doctor is standing trial this week on child pornography charges.

The Juneau Empire reports (http://bit.ly/1LxOSUC) Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Fischer said in court this week that Greg Salard found, downloaded and shared videos that included footage of adult men molesting toddlers.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Cara MacNamara argued in court that the government can’t prove Salard possessed or distributed child pornography.

FBI Special Agent Anthony Peterson was set to testify for the prosecution on Thursday.

Fischer says Peterson found the illegal material was uploaded through a file-sharing program from a computer registered to Salard.

MacNamara said an FBI agent misinterpreted the software.

Salard faces an aggravated rape charge in Louisiana, where he’s expected to be extradited to following the Juneau trial’s conclusion.

___

Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

An 18-year-old Noorvik man has been charged after allegedly breaking into a post office, authorities say.

A grand jury returned a one-count indictment of burglary of a U.S. post office against Theodore Westlake, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska.

Westlake is accused of forcibly entering the Noorvik post office on June 29 with the intention of stealing money, the release says.

A former Alaska legislative staffer is facing up to two months in jail and two years of probation after agreeing to plead guilty to driving under the influence and assault.

Police say Carolyn Kuckertz — who served as press secretary for the Senate Majority at the time — was drunk when she hit two women with her car in the parking lot of the downtown Anchorage Legislative Information Office in June. One of the women struck was hospitalized and later released with no major injuries.

Kuckertz was originally charged with three felonies and misdemeanor DUI. District Attorney Clint Campion says Kuckertz has agreed to a plea deal of a consolidated assault charge and DUI.

A change of plea hearing is slated for Aug. 31. The Senate terminated Kuckertz’s contract after her arrest.

Courtesy APD

A man who escaped from the Anchorage jail earlier this year was indicted Thursday for a 2008 fatal shooting in Mountain View.

Kevin Tuckfield, 29, was indicted on one count each of first- and second-degree murder in the shooting death of Travis Villa. Tuckfield was also indicted on one count of first-degree attempted murder for the alleged shooting of Morgan Meadows, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Law.

According to an entry on the Anchorage Crime Stoppers page, Villa was killed and Meadows was injured on McCarrey Street on Sept. 9, 2008. The suspect then drove off in Villa’s Toyota Tundra. The truck was later found, burned, at Lions Park in Mountain View.

Tuckfield was identified as a person of interest and interviewed by authorities in 2008, said Anchorage District Attorney Clint Campion. “Developments in 2014″ ultimately lead to Tuckfield’s indictment, but Campion said he could not yet release more details.

If convicted, Tuckfield faces a sentence of up to 99 years for each of the three counts, the Department of Law says.

Back in March, Tuckfield escaped the mental health unit of the Anchorage Correctional Complex when he climbed over the fence in the jail’s yard. He then allegedly approached a woman vacuuming her vehicle at a car wash, implied he was armed with a gun and tried to force her into her vehicle, police previously said. A good Samaritan nearby helped the woman, and police were able to arrest Tuckfield thanks to information from a 16-year-old boy.

Authorities in Kodiak arrested four people and seized an estimated $74,000 worth of heroin and methamphetamine early Sunday after serving search warrants at three homes.

The search netted roughly 120 grams of heroin and about 146 grams of meth, according to a release from the Kodiak Police Department. In Kodiak, a gram of heroin and meth go for about $500 and $200 respectively, according to a narcotics detective who does nondescript work in the area and requested to not be named.

Also seized were more than $23,000 in cash and nine firearms, including an illegal sawed-off shotgun and an FN-57 “armor piercing” assault pistol, the release says.

The raid was part of an ongoing drug investigation by Kodiak police with support from the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard. Joseph Garcia, 27; Danielle Juarez, 33; Virginia Andrewvitch, 36; and Wayne Buck, 36, were arrested on felony drug and weapon charges related to the investigation.

All four were charged with second-degree controlled substance and weapon misconduct — both felonies.

Buck was also charged with third-degree controlled substance misconduct and violating conditions of release. Juarez was additionally charged with third-degree controlled substance misconduct and Garcia with fourth-degree controlled substance misconduct.

Earlier this month, state health officials released a report showing how a spike in heroin use across the state has resulted in more drug-related deaths and hospitalizations in recent years. Kodiak police have teamed up with other agencies to try to reduce the influx of the drug.

“This level of drugs off our streets is incredible in terms that the amount of drugs that’s not going to get to the citizens of Kodiak, to the ones tied up in this kind of activity,” said KPD Chief Ronda Wallace.

Contact Hope Miller at hmiller@ktva.com and @HopeMiller

Authorities are asking the public for help in locating the driver in a hit-and-run crash that happened Friday.

At about 11:45 a.m., a bicyclist fractured his leg when he was knocked off his bike on Chugach Way near Spenard Road, according to an Anchorage Police Department release.

“The motorist stopped briefly, and then ran over the bicycle as he fled the scene at a high rate of speed,” APD says.

The driver is described as an older white male, who possibly has gray hair. Witnesses say the vehicle involved was a dark blue or black SUV, “similar to a Suburban, Tahoe, or Yukon.” The vehicle is described to have tinted windows and large black custom wheels, according to the release.

APD asks anyone who has information about the identity of the driver to call Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP.

Jason Sear / KTVA

Jason Sear / KTVA

Jason Sear / KTVA

Jason Sear / KTVA

The two Anchorage residents accused of sparking the 7,220-acre Sockeye Fire that destroyed dozens of homes have both entered a not guilty plea.

Greg Imig, 59, and Amy Dewitt, 42, waived their arraignment in Palmer court Tuesday morning and instead both entered a plea of not guilty through their attorneys.

The fire, which started north of Willow in June, destroyed 55 homes and damaged 44 other structures, officials say.

Court documents say they did not have a required burn permit. The pair burned brush piles at their cabin near Mile 77 of the Parks Highway and didn’t extinguish the piles. Instead, they left them unattended.

The cost in resources related to the fire reached more than $8 million, according to an earlier report.

A pretrial conference has been set for Aug. 21. The trial is tentatively slated for Sept. 24.

The Palmer District Attorney’s office wants fire victims to contact them so they can get a better idea of how much restitution to ask for.

There is a form victims need to fill out, which they can get at the Palmer courthouse or by calling Sherese Miller with the DA’s office at 907-761-5648.

“If we can get the information out to everybody, if we can have them coming in to the DA’s office, filling out the form, getting it back to me, this is going to be a huge step in making sure we’re able to at least make attempts to make all our victims whole again,” Miller said.

–Lauren Maxwell contributed reporting. 

A Michigan man has been convicted of using fake charitable organizations in an Alaska fraud and identity theft case.

On Monday, 46-year-old Alan Michael Bartlett, of Owosso, Mich., was convicted of two counts of mail fraud, 20 counts of bank fraud, five counts of wire fraud, five counts of false statements to the U.S. Postal Service and five counts of aggravated identity theft, according to a statement from the Alaska U.S. District Attorney’s office.

Bartlett reportedly established two businesses — United States Disabled Veterans, LLC, and United States Handicapped-Disadvantaged Services, LLC – whose missions were allegedly “to help provide real jobs for disabled and disadvantaged Americans,” according to the DA. Instead, Bartlett used them to obtain donations to benefit himself between July 2011 and January 2012.

He also used information found on checks sent in for donations to gain access to more money from donors’ accounts and submitted forged power of attorney forms with falsified notary seals to banks and other financial institutions to  “legitimize” transactions that had been reversed due to the potential for fraud, according to the DA.

Bartlett also used personal identifying information from donors to submit change of address requests to USPS so donors’ financial mail would be sent to his home address.

The money he gained through these tactics was used to invest in his E*TRADE accounts and pay for credit cards, phone service and a student loan, the DA says.

According to the DA, Bartlett even pretended to be a municipal law enforcement detective in order to dissuade one victim from “reporting or providing additional information” about his schemes to real law enforcement.

Bartlett faces a potential of 30 years in prison for the crimes of fraud and false statement, plus a fine of $250,000. Each aggravated identity theft charge requires a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence for each conviction, plus a fine of $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19.