Crime & Courts

Kongiganak tribal police officer accused of stealing alcohol from evidence, injuring man in fight

A Kongiganak tribal police officer was arrested Thursday after Alaska State Troopers say he injured a man while the two were drinking alcohol that had been taken from the village's public safety building, where it was being held as evidence in another case.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, troopers received a report that Derek Black, 26, of Kongiganak was at a Bethel hospital with injuries received in a fight with Scott Hill, 25, also of Kongiganak, troopers wrote in an online dispatch. 

"Further investigation revealed that (Hill) was a Tribal Police Officer and had assaulted (Black) while they were drinking alcohol that (Hill) had taken from the public safety building," troopers wrote. "The alcohol had been seized as evidence in a case that was being prosecuted in the tribal court."

Hill was arrested and charged with two counts of assault. His employment status as a tribal officer was unknown Sunday.

Kongiganak is a village of about 500 people on the Kuskokwim Bay, west of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska. The community bans the sale, importation and possession of alcohol.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

ADVERTISEMENT