A check received by Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz Thursday looked similar to ones lottery winners hold while collecting their prize money. A $1.1 million was made out to the Municipality of Anchorage — about half of what is owed by a group of business owners who schemed to defraud the municipality.

In 2011, the treasury department of the city noticed a strange pattern in cigarette purchases. Large quantities of cigarettes were being purchased tax-free for sale in the Kenai Peninsula. But the cigarettes were actually being sold in Anchorage, where a $2.20 tax should be collected on each pack.

“We started looking at the size of the stores — the square footage — and we saw how small they were,” said city treasurer Daniel Moore. “We related that to the volume of cigarettes that they were purchasing without the tax, and we said, ‘something’s not adding up’.”

The Anchorage Police Department investigated the case alongside the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Department of Justice. Eventually, seven people owning five different smoke shops were convicted of scheming to defraud the municipality. The ringleaders, Michael Butler and Sun Sims, ran the operation from Up In Smoke, their smoke shop in Eagle River. From there, Butler delivered cigarettes to the remaining five smoke shops around the city.

“They would split some of the profits from not paying the tax,” said Moore.

An estimated 12 million cigarettes were distributed illegally. The Department of Justice said customers would not have noticed a difference in price.

“Instead of cheating the [municipality] and passing the savings on to the customer, they were cheating the [municipality] and passing the savings on to their own pocket,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephan Collins.

Moore said the result of the case sends a powerful message to people considering tax evasion.

“There are consequences when people try to defraud not just the government, but other tax payers,” said Moore. “We want to make it a fair system for everybody.”

The money received by the municipality Thursday was largely collected by a raid on the business owners’ homes and businesses in 2012, when authorities seized about $1 million in cash, according to Moore. He said the money received Thursday will be placed into the account where tobacco tax revenues are currently held.

The business owners still owe roughly $1 million to the city. Moore said it could be a few years before it is all collected.

Sitka National Historic Park

Sitka National Historic Park

Sitka National Historic Park

Sitka National Historic Park

Two juveniles have been arrested and charged for spray painting public resources in Sitka National Historic Park.

The Sitka Police Department arrested the duo following an investigation into a week-long “tagging” spree that defaced buildings, trash cans, signs and other resources within the park, according to a statement from police.

The cost of repairing the damage and cleaning the graffiti will total more than $1,000, park officials report.

Due to the suspects’ ages, their identities will not be released.

Jose Delgado

Juneau Police Department

Sky Linn Stubblefield

Juneau Police Department

Juneau police say they have taken into custody two people involved in a shooting on Harris Street Wednesday.

A Juneau police officer was in the area of Fourth Street around 1 a.m. when a grey car passed him and fired a single shot at a house on the 400 block of Harris Street, police said in a statement. The car then took off, driving in the wrong direction up another street. Another officer in the area later found the vehicle but it was empty.

Police said their investigation revealed the shooting occurred following an argument over property. One of the men involved in the argument left the house in the grey car with another person, and he fired a shot at the home as the car drove away.

“The bullet traveled through the front window of the house, through a lamp, and lodged in the wall,” police said in a statement.

Police identified the man as 47-year-old Jose Antonio Delgado. Another suspect in the case was identified as 25-year-old Sky Linn Stubblefield. Police did not immediately clarify if she was the driver involved.

Police caught up with Stubblefield the next day. A tip to police led detectives to a residence on the 3900 block of North Douglas Highway. She was taken into custody and taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment of injuries she got while fleeing the scene of the shooting, police said. She was charged with aiding and abetting the first-degree misconduct involving a weapon, failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, contempt of court and a probation violation.

Delgado was located at a residence on Salmon Creek Lane on Friday and arrested. He faces a single charge each of first- and third-degree misconduct involving a weapon and three counts of third-degree assault. He is being held on a $20,000 bail.

A bicyclist was taken to a hospital with serious injuries early Sunday morning after being struck by a vehicle in midtown Anchorage.

Anchorage police were notified of the collision around 1:30 a.m. and responded to the intersection of Tudor Road and C Street.

According to police, the vehicle involved, a Dodge Durango driven by 32-year-old Connie Khamlue, was traveling southbound on C Street and had a green light when it hit the male bicyclist, who was heading west.

Police said the 39-year-old bicyclist was wearing a helmet during the crash, and had “serious but survivable injuries.”

Police said Khamlue remained at the scene and cooperated with police. Police conducted standard field sobriety tests and a breathalyzer test. She was arrested for operating under the influence and first-degree assault and taken to the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

Federal prosecutors have charged four southeast Alaska businesses with selling bone carvings that prosecutors say were misrepresented as carved by Alaska Natives.

A shop employee also was charged.

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler in an announcement says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated after summer tourists complained about bone carvings they bought.

Charges of “misrepresentation of Indian produced goods” were filed against shops in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

A man and a woman were shot early-Thursday evening in an attempted suicide inside of a Sand Lake area home, Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Castro said.

Police were called to the scene, at the 3000 block of Dunkirk Street, around 4:30 p.m. When emergency responders arrive, APD Sgt. Mike Canfield said, both people needed immediate medical attention.

“It was reported to police that a male had attempted to commit suicide and during the process of when he shot himself, a female at the residence who tried to intervene was struck by the same bullet,” Castro wrote in an email.

According to Castro, the man’s injuries appear to be life-threating; the woman’s do not.

Dunkirk St — @APDInfo working a shooting, 2 pple transported to the hospital @ktva pic.twitter.com/MaqaoF0e2J

— Daniella Rivera (@RiveraDanie) March 4, 2016

The family of a man who died in an Alaska prison in 2014 will receive more than $500,000 from the State of Alaska, according to a report from Division of Risk Management.

Davon Mosley, 20, was admitted to the Anchorage Correctional Complex in March 2014 for a parole violation in California. A state review discovered he spent more than a week in segregation for attempting to fight a correctional officer. He was left naked with nothing but a suicide blanket.

Mosley was found dead in his cell April 4, 2014.

Last August, Gov. Bill Walker ordered an administrative review of the DOC, which included investigations into several inmate deaths.

Mosley’s family will receive $625,000 from the Department of Law, according to DOC spokesperson Corey Allen-Young.

Charges for a North Pole woman accused of killing her 18-month-old son could be reduced in light of new forensic evidence.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that 26-year-old Amberlynn Swanson had initially been charged with murder in the 2013 death of Julian Swanson-Byrd. But she pleaded guilty to a charge of criminally negligent homicide in a deal reached with prosecutors Thursday. The judge delayed approving the plea agreement because an attorney for Swanson wasn’t present at the hearing.

The new evidence includes forensic studies that cleared Swanson’s propane torch and ring as possible murder weapons.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Baldock says key details about the child’s death remain unanswered, but that there’s still enough evidence Swanson was criminally negligent in failing to get her son medical attention.

___

Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

In the middle of an argument on Thursday, a Kivalina man threw a baby at a family member, according to Alaska State Troopers.

In an online dispatch, troopers said 25-year-old Nathan Koonook threw the 1-year-old, which “was caught without any injury.”

After the family member put the child down, Koonook then strangled the family member “until [they] almost lost consciousness,” troopers wrote.

Troopers arrested Koonook and charged him with second-degree assault and reckless endangerment. He is being held at the Kotzebue Regional Jail, according to troopers.

The injured family member was treated at the Kivalina clinic for minor injuries, troopers said.

An Aleknagik man accused of trying to kill his wife was indicted Thursday on charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault.

The charges stem from an incident on the evening of Feb. 23. A call about a stabbing brought local Village Public Safety Officer 1st Sgt. Jason Creasey to the home of Robin Chythlook and his wife, according to Alaska State Trooper Ethan Norwood in an affidavit. “A lot of blood” could be seen on the snow outside the home.

Creasey explained that when he arrived he could see Chythlook walking around inside the home with a scoped hunting rifle, Norwood said.

“When he was holding the rifle he I heard him say, ‘you have four seconds to leave,’” Creasey told Norwood. “I thought he was going to kill me.”

Norwood arrived after Creasey called him to assist at 5:25 p.m., court documents show. The two officers “established a perimeter” and were able to take Chythlook into custody after a brief struggle.

After taking Chythlook into custody, Norwood interviewed his wife at the Kanakanak Hospital. She said the two began arguing after drinking and he “started hitting her, punched her twice in the face with his hands, and she tried to run away,” according to Norwood.

When she tried to run away, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground, pinning her legs. He then began stabbing her with a large knife. She managed to knock it out of his hands but then he grabbed a smaller knife and kept stabbing her, court records show.

“[She] stated she didn’t remember how she got away, but just remembered running to the neighbor’s residence,” Norwood wrote in his affidavit.

Chythlook was initially charged with first-, third- and fourth-degree assault and first-degree attempted murder. He was also charged with interfering with the report of a domestic violence incident after both phones in the home were found taken apart or disconnected. All but the attempted murder and first-degree assaults charges were dropped in the indictment on Thursday.

He is being held in the Dillingham Jail, according to troopers.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating a case of animal cruelty in the northwest village of Kiana.

Troopers on Tuesday said the dog was found frozen and hanging last month from a stop sign.

A village public safety officer found the dog with a rope around its neck tied high on the sign post.

The dog had been hoisted until its feet were off the ground, causing it to be strangled and then frozen.

Troopers are asking for help finding the person who tied up the dog.

Kiana is on the Kobuk River 57 miles northeast of Kotzebue.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Alaska State Troopers are asking anyone with information about an animal cruelty case in Kiana to contact them.

Northwest Arctic Borough Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) Chris Hatch responded to a report of animal cruelty at the intersection of Airport Road and Willow Street. He contacted Alaska State Troopers on Feb. 17 after finding a medium sized, mixed-breed dog hanging from a stop sign at the intersection.

“The animal had been hoisted up until its front feet [were off] the ground causing the dog to be strangled, then left hanging where it remained until it froze,” troopers said in a dispatch.

There was no information on the dog’s owners, according to Hatch.

“It’s… kind of on the main street, off the airport, in Kiana,” Hatch said of the area, adding that he’s never seen an incident like this in his three years as a VPSO. “No one was willing to speak up.”

The investigation by the VPSOs is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call local troopers at 442-3222.

Kiana is a small village located along the Kobuk River in northwest Alaska, northeast of Kotzebue.

Juneau police arrested a man after he sprayed officers with bear spray and ran away.

According to a release from the Juneau Police Department, around 1:40 p.m. Thursday they received a report that 29-year-old Juneau resident Timothy James was causing a disturbance at a facility on the 3400 block of Glacier Highway. The caller said James had pulled at them and was threatening to kill people, the release states.

Three officers arrived about ten minutes later and attempted to contact James. When officers spoke with him, James took out a can of bear spray and sprayed the officers, hitting two in the face. James then fled the area on foot.

Two other JPD officers responded to the area and at 2:09 p.m., they found James on the shores of Twin Lakes, across from the area of Hospital Drive.

Police arrested James and charged him with three counts of assault on a police officer. James was taken to the Lemon Creek Correctional Center, where he is being held on $3,000 bail.

Emergency personnel on scene treated all three officers James hit with the bear spray, the third of which received residual affects from the attack. All three officers later returned to duty.

Emily Landeen / KTVA

Emily Landeen / KTVA

Anchorage police arrested a woman after she allegedly stabbed another woman in the face Friday afternoon at a South Anchorage home.

According to a release from the Anchorage Police Department, just before 2:00 p.m. officers responded to a home located on 10000 block of Tahneeta Drive, where a woman had reportedly been stabbed. Police said the victim fled the home and went to a neighbor’s house, where the neighbor called APD for help.

Officers arrived on scene and found the victim with a stab wound to the face. She was transported to a local hospital for treatment of the wound, which police stated was not life-threatening.

The release stated that police were told the woman was stabbed by another woman who had been in the home at the time. The attacker, identified as 20-year-old Shyla Earnshot, left the residence on foot following the altercation. APD said a K9 unit was launched to track Earnshot. She was located hiding in the woods near O’Malleys on the Green.

Earnshot was arrested, charged with assault in the second degree and taken to the Anchorage Jail.

Shawna Rob

Jordan King

Shawna Robb's green truck

Courtesy the Robb family

Last updated at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, March 12

Alaska State Troopers are asking for the public’s help in locating a man they consider dangerous and a woman with him who may be in danger.

Jordan King, 23, left his third-party custodian, according to a statement from Anchorage police. He was later seen eary Saturday morning at Fairview Loop in Wasilla. Witnesses reported he was arguing with 40-year-old Shawna Robb.

Troopers went to the scene where the two were reported, but they were both gone, along with Robb’s green 2012 Ford truck, with license plate number GKH371. The truck was later found, according to dispatchers, who would not say where it was found.

Police said troopers believe Robb is in “grave danger.”

Anyone with information on Robb or King’s whereabouts, or Robb’s truck, is asked to call Anchorage police at 786-8900 or call 911.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

The teen convicted in the death of bicyclist Jeff Dusenbury was in court again Monday for a hearing on a motion to reduce her sentence.

Alexandra Ellis pleaded guilty to negligent homicide for backing into Dusenbury with her truck while intoxicated in July 2014. She was sentenced to serve three years in prison, with two suspended, a judgment many people in Anchorage condemned.

The motion seeks to further reduce Ellis’ time behind bars by applying credit for 252 days served in an inpatient treatment facility between August 2014 and April 2015, according to her lawyer, Kevin Fitzgerald. He added that 26 days she spent in another program was denied by the judge as part of their motion, as she was charged for the crime five days before she left the program.

Fitzgerald estimated that, if approved, the motion would reduce Ellis’ time in prison to “a little over 90 days.”

Ellis was in court for the evidentiary hearing. She was asked to explain time spent outside the treatment facility — four hours at the Alaska State Fair in 2014. While on the stand, she also told the court she was still undergoing treatment for drug and alcohol abuse and other health issues, and is going to school at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Fitzgerald said a decision on the motion is expected “within a week.”

Ellis has already served five days at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, Fitzgerald said. A judge changed her remand date to May 2.

This story originates from KYUK Public Media and was published with permission. 

BETHEL — After a 31-hour armed standoff, Bethel police have arrested a man who barricaded himself with children inside his home.

According to a press release from the Bethel Police Department, officers received a call just after 7:40 p.m. on Friday, saying a man was threatening to shoot himself with children inside his residence in Bethel’s Uivik Subdivision.

Police arrived on the scene, where they found the children already outside. One of the children identified the armed male as 34-year-old Dennis Hensley Jr. The child confirmed that Hensley had been discharging his gun inside the residence.

Police alleged that Hensley threatened to murder the police, his wife, family and himself over the phone. According to the press release, he started discharging a gun, saying he would shoot the police then himself if the police came to the door.

Bethel police called Alaska State Troopers for assistance. The unit responded, bringing in their negotiator.

When efforts to get Hensley to vacate his home failed, troopers flew in their Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) from Fairbanks on Saturday.

After 31 hours, on Sunday just after 1:30 a.m., troopers said Hensley came out of his home and was taken in by SERT after a lengthy negotiation. He was turned over to Bethel police and arrested without incident. Police took Hensley to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Correctional Center in Bethel on an arrest warrant of six counts of assault in the third degree and one count of coercion.

A Village Public Safety Officer and a driver were both hospitalized Tuesday after a run-in with a suspect who tried to bribe the VPSO, then dragged the officer behind his vehicle for about 50 feet behind his vehicle before crashing into another vehicle.

An Alaska State Trooper dispatch said the incident began around 3 p.m. when VPSO Padron found 25-year-old Tanner Stack at a business on the South Tongass Highway near Ketchikan. He wasn’t with his third-party custodian, thus violating his conditions of release from jail. Stack initially tried to bribe Padron and gave the officer a false name, troopers said.

When Padron tried to arrest him, Stack fled in his vehicle, dragging Padron for over 5o feet, according to troopers. Stack then hit another vehicle and fled the scene.

Padron “fell from the vehicle to the ground,” according to troopers. Medical personnel responding to the scene of the crash transported Padron and the driver of the other vehicle to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center for their injuries. Both were later released after receiving treatment.

The Ketchikan Police Department also responded to the scene and were able to find Stack at a home on Killer Whale Avenue in Saxman, near Ketchikan.

Stack was charged with two counts of third-degree assault, bribery, leaving the scene of a crash and fourth-degree escape. He was booked at the Ketchikan Correctional Center by troopers.

An Alaska man whose wallet was stolen at a municipal swimming pool helped track down a suspect when he saw food charges show up on his credit card.

The man Monday told Alaska State Troopers his wallet was stolen at the Nikiski Pool.

The wallet owner checked online banking records and discovered a fraudulent charge at a Nikiski restaurant.

The restaurant had delivered food to the pool at the direction of the suspect.

Troopers Wednesday arrested 19-year-old Jomar Schwenke.

He’s charged with three counts of felony theft and misdemeanor credit card fraud.

He remained jailed Thursday at Wildwood Pretrial Facility.

He is represented by the Alaska Public Defender’s office, which does not comment on pending cases. A message left with the office in Kenai was not immediately returned.

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

In January and February, the Anchorage Police Department says a total of 359 vehicles were reported stolen. In November and December, 262 vehicles were reported stolen.

APD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said police have found that vehicles are being stolen for a number of reasons, and may be an indicator of what condition the vehicle could be in when it is found.

“Some are simply driven around until they run out of gas,” Castro explained. “Some are trashed and used for ‘doper vehicles,’ which means they are likely full of drugs, drug paraphernalia, and garbage when they are recovered. Some are stripped for parts. Some are used for short joy riding trips. Some are used as getaway cars during the commission of crimes.”

Some vehicles are easier to steal during the winter because drivers warming up their vehicles leave the keys in the ignition, something police have warned against. The practice is also against the law.

Roughly 80 percent of the vehicles reported stolen in January and February have been recovered, she said, adding that Alaska’s geographical location helps keep the vehicles in the state.

Castro noted that the police department has also seen at least a dozen cases of license plate thefts, even from vehicles not reported stolen.

“It’s important that people check theirs to make sure the correct one is on,” she said. “When is the last time you looked at your license plate to make sure you have the right one on?”

Anyone who finds their plates have been stolen or switched should call Anchorage police to report the theft, Castro said. Replacement plates can be obtained by contacting the Department of Motor Vehicles.