A Napakiak man who’d been on the run from law enforcement for over a month was apprehended in Palmer on Tuesday by a multi-agency task force, said the U.S. Marshals Service.
Alexie Michael, 65, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on seven counts of first-degree sexual assault, according to court records and the U.S. Marshals Service.
The search for Michael began on Oct. 7 when members of the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force flew to Bethel at the request of local law enforcement, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Rochelle Liedike.
Word of mouth travels fast when officers arrive into a village, Liedike said. Michael fled before the task force could make an arrest, going through Bethel to Anchorage, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The task force arrested Michael at around 2 p.m. Tuesday in a residential neighborhood in Palmer, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.
The arrest investigation started under Operation Rural Alaska Anti-Violence Enforcement — known as RAAVEN — an initiative created after U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr announced emergency funding for public safety in rural Alaska earlier this year, said the statement.
Michael is currently detained at the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility.