Last updated at 5:53 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31
Two people surrendered to police following an hours-long standoff at an east Anchorage mobile home park early Saturday morning.
The Anchorage Police Department sent out a Nixle alert around 12:18 a.m. Saturday warning residents of a SWAT presence in the area of the Glencaren Court mobile home park. Multiple police units were called to the area and remained on scene for hours.
“Jedidiah, we know you’re inside we saw you looking out the window,” police said over a loud speaker at one point. “It’s time to end this.”
Four nearby homes were evacuated while the standoff was underway. Police used loud sirens and repeatedly asked a man named Jedediah Smith to come out of the home.
Jedidiah Smith in court Saturday
“Jedidiah Smith, we know you’re inside,” police said over the loud speaker. “You are the reason no one in the neighborhood can go to sleep. Come to the front door, surrender peacefully and resolve this situation. Let your friends go back home. Leave their trailer.”
Shortly before 4 a.m., officers blasted the door off the mobile home. Shortly after that, a man came out of the home, smoking a cigarette, and surrendered to police.
A woman soon followed him out of the home.
Police later confirmed Smith was the suspect taken into custody. Police originally stated in a Nixle that Smith was wanted on multiple felony warrants and was “known to be armed, has an assaultive history, and has previously threatened to kill police officers.”
A woman in the mobile home was not charged with any crime. Both she and Smith were unharmed when they exited the home, according to police.
At his arraignment Saturday afternoon, state prosecutors announced they would not be pursuing a charge of resisting arrest related to the standoff. District Attorney Clint Campion said the reason was his office found no warrants for Smith’s arrest Saturday morning.
Smith was released from custody following his arraignment, according to court officials, but Anchorage police said in a statement that Smith was still in custody for violating probation.
“We originally stated Jedediah Smith had several felony warrants,” APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad said in a release Saturday evening. “What he actually had was a single outstanding warrant for a probation/parole violation which was directly linked to several previous felony crimes.”
Oistad said the decision to use SWAT was based on Smith’s previous threats to harm officers, assaultive behavior, and being armed, which add up to what police consider a “high-risk” warrant service.
“We use SWAT in this type of situation to keep officers and citizens safe as well as to be as prepared as possible for whatever behavior the defendant may choose to exhibit during the arrest process,” she explained.
“We apologize for any confusion the original release caused and we hope this clarifies the reason for our response,” Oistad concluded.
KTVA 11’s Jason Sear and Daniella Rivera contributed to this report.
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