Anchorage police are looking for a man they believe is connected to a rash of crimes overnight, including vehicle theft and robbery.
Around midnight Tuesday, Anchorage Police Department dispatch received a report about a person “possibly using drugs” inside a white sport-utility vehicle near Third Avenue and Lane Street in East Anchorage. When officers approached the SUV, “the driver backed out and almost struck the officers with the vehicle,” according to a statement from APD spokesperson Jennifer Castro.
Additional officers responded but were not able to find the SUV. Authorities also discovered the license plate on the vehicle was a stolen plate, Castro wrote. Police describe the suspect driver as a “Samoan male with a shaved head wearing a black leather jacket.”
Less than half an hour after the initial run-in with police, a citizen reported to APD that they had been held at gunpoint and their vehicle had been stolen near the 700 block of Klevin Street, about three blocks from the original interaction with officers.
The suspect — whose description matched the suspect in the earlier eluding case — stole a black Chevrolet Silverado SS truck, Castro wrote.
The black Chevy was later located unoccupied near Ninth Avenue and Hoyt Street. The white SUV, a Yukon GMC, was also found with no one inside near 4200 E. Fourth Ave.
Police ask anyone with additional information to contact APD. Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 561-STOP or by going online.
