Alaska News

James Koenig charged with DUI, other charges

Anchorage police arrested James Koenig, father of homicide victim Samantha Koenig, early Tuesday morning and charged him with drunken driving, assault and weapons misconduct, a police spokesman said.

Koenig, 42, had apparently been spending time with another homicide victim's father: Terry Reeves, father of slain Airman Clinton Reeves.

The two men were leaving the Great Alaska Bush Company, a popular Midtown Anchorage strip club, when a doorman tried to stop Koenig from driving shortly after 2 a.m., said Lt. Dave Parker. The doorman thought Koenig was too drunk to drive and offered to get the men a taxi, Parker said.

Koenig told the doorman, "Get back from my door or meet my 1911," Parker said.

Koenig was apparently talking about a Colt M1911 .45-caliber handgun and reached for the pickup's center console, Parker said. The doorman backed away, afraid he would be shot, the police spokesman said.

Koenig drove away in his 2012 Ford F150 Harley-Davidson edition pickup, Parker said. The doorman called police, who drove to Koenig's home on Iowa Drive. They charged Koenig with drunken driving, misconduct involving a weapon and assault, Parker said. Koenig also refused to provide a sample of his breath and did not go to jail peacefully, the police spokesman said.

"He did challenge the officers to fight, according to one of the officers this morning, but he was not charged with that," Parker said.

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Police impounded Koenig's pickup and found a handgun inside, Parker said. He declined to say the exact make and model.

Koenig's daughter, abducted Feb. 1, and missing for weeks, was found dead under ice in a lake north of Anchorage in early April.

Reeves was at Koenig's home at the time of the arrest and not charged with any crime, Parker said.

The two men told the Daily News earlier that they met when Koenig offered to help Reeves and his ex-wife find their only child, who disappeared April 19 and was later found dead in Eagle River on May 8.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.

By CASEY GROVE

Anchorage Daily News

Casey Grove

Casey Grove is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. He left the ADN in 2014.

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