Updated at 5:10 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18
Police shut down a section of Northern Lights Boulevard in Anchorage as officers tried to stop a stolen vehicle.
Late Wednesday morning, the Anchorage Police Department sent a text message alert stating that traffic was stopped on Northern Lights between Nichols and Bragaw Streets. According to an officer on scene, the stolen vehicle was heading east when it was stopped at Bragaw Street by APD.
At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, a woman called the department to report her 2013 Ford F-150 pick-up truck stolen, according to an afternoon release from police. APD wrote that the woman’s truck was taken while left running and unattended at her home on the 1900 block of Hillcrest Drive.
Several hours later, the truck was spotted in various locations around Anchorage, police stated. An officer spotted the truck and the driver, identified as 27-year-old Patrick Mora, in traffic near the intersection of Benson Boulevard and the New Seward Highway. APD’s release said the officer followed the truck until more officers responded.
Shortly thereafter, the truck stopped at the traffic light at Bragaw Street and East Northern Lights Boulevard and officers tried to block Mora and the stolen truck in, police stated.
Mora then put the truck in reverse and drove away, ramming into three other vehicles in the eastbound lanes of Northern Lights.
“The truck drove directly at another vehicle occupied by a woman and her two children, narrowly missing it and getting stuck in the snowbank at Northern Lights and Nichols Street,” APD wrote.
APD clarified that the Chevrolet pick-up truck with a woman and her children inside were not hit as previously reported, but that they were “placed in fear” by Mora.
Officers again blocked the vehicle in, APD wrote. Mora, who initially gave police a false name, ignored commands and continued to try and drive away, but police say he eventually was arrested without further incident.
Police say Mora had drugs in his possession and faces a charge of fourth-degree misconduct of a controlled substance. He has been charged with operating under the influence of drugs, eluding, false information, vehicle theft and six counts of assault. APD stated that Mora also had unrelated felony warrants.
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