A North Pole man tried to ignite a home with a flaming log and hit an Alaska state trooper with a vehicle Wednesday before engaging in a standoff with authorities, troopers said.
Troopers were informed at about 12:30 p.m. that 35-year-old Ryan Hollenbeck had "damaged multiple items on a property in violation of a domestic violence protection order," a trooper dispatch said. Multiple trooper units responded to the North Pole call.
"The report indicated that Ryan had attempted to burn down a residence," troopers wrote. "During the investigation, Ryan attempted to flee the area and in the process attempted to run over an Alaska State Trooper."
Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said in an email that nobody was inside the home off Lancelot Drive that Hollenbeck allegedly tried to burn.
"A person living in the home saw a log burning near the fuel line," Peters wrote. "The person extinguished the burning log."
Peters said Hollenbeck was at the wheel of a blue Ford pickup truck when he tried to hit the trooper.
"The trooper had contact with the vehicle," Peters wrote, though no injuries were reported.
Troopers briefly pursued Hollenbeck on "a quick loop around the area," Peters said, before he got out and barricaded himself in another home. A tactical vehicle was called to the scene, but negotiators were able to persuade Hollenbeck to surrender peacefully; according to Peters, the standoff lasted less than an hour.
Hollenbeck was taken to the Fairbanks Correctional Center, where he was held on charges including attempted arson, third-degree assault on a police officer and failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, as well as criminal mischief, theft and violating the protective order.