Two men and a woman are in custody and a police officer is at the hospital after a high-speed chase and standoff that shut down the Glenn Highway for over an hour this morning, according to Lt. Paul Honeman, Anchorage Police Department spokesman.
The highway was reopened shortly after 10 a.m.
The driver of the fleeing vehicle, identified as Terrence Jones, 38, was on probation. He was living with a court-approved third-party custodian on Brittany Place off Northern Lights Boulevard, according to an interview with the custodian.
Jones took the SUV and a gun from the home just after 7 a.m., said the custodian, Tony Martin, who owns the vehicle. Martin called police as soon as he saw the SUV was gone, he said. The gun had been under lock and key, he said. Jones also took a phone from the house, which made it difficult to call police, Martin said.
Jones picked up a man and a woman before police spotted the vehicle and gave chase on the Glenn Highway. Officers used spiked strips to slow the car but eventually had to ram it to get the driver to stop. The police officer who rammed the SUV had minor injuries and was taken to the hospital, Honeman said.
The woman and one of the men surrendered soon after the vehicle was stopped, but Jones, whom police said was armed and suicidal, remained in the car, which came to rest in a marshy area. At one point he had the barrel of the gun in his mouth, threatening to pull the trigger, Honeman said.
Police brought in crisis negotiators, who were able to talk Jones out of the car. Dozens of officers responded to the incident.
Jones has a record of drug- and weapons-related crimes, according to Honeman.
Martin said the car, a 2007 Chevy Tahoe, was totaled.
By JULIA O'MALLEY
jomalley@adn.com
Anchorage Daily News