Another driver rammed into a police vehicle around 3 a.m. Sunday, prompting an officer to fire his weapon in Anchorage's downtown area. The incident was the third ramming of vehicles by a suspect and the second officer involved shooting in less than two weeks.??
Police received a call at 3:17 a.m. from someone who said the driver of a Dodge Charger had brandished a gun. Officers spotted the vehicle near the Big Timber hotel on Fifth Avenue and attempted to block it at Fifth and Karluk Street.
However, the driver, later identified as 34-year-old Lusia Pedro, rammed a police vehicle, according to an Anchorage Police Department press release, pushing the police vehicle several feet before Pedro drove away. During the incident, an officer fired his weapon, although the Police Department did not specify exactly when that happened.
After the gunfire, Pedro drove west on Fifth Avenue, and officers set spikes strips on the road to stop him, puncturing several of the Dodge's tires. Pedro continued, however, until officers stopped him at International Airport Road and the Minnesota Road. He fled but was apprehended by an Officer Nathan Keays and a police dog named MP. Two passengers in the Dodge driven by Pedro stayed in vehicle when it finally was stopped, and officers took them to the Police Department for questioning. ??All three suspects were treated for minor injuries due to the colliding vehicles. No officers were injured during the chase.
Pedro is wanted for an outstanding federal felony warrant for a probation violation on a drug-related charge. He faced many misdemeanor and felony charges during the late 1990s and early 2000s, but most were dismissed or the charges reduced through plea deals, according to online court records.
His charges include the federal probation violation warrant as well as two counts of third-degree felony assault and one count of eluding. He will be arraigned Monday in Anchorage.