Alaska News

AK Beat: Names released in Sunday officer-involved shooting in Wasilla

Troopers' names released in fatal officer-involved shooting Sunday: Alaska State Troopers on Wednesday released the names of a trooper and a Wasilla Police Department officer who opened fire on a suspected drunk driver Sunday night, killing the driver, 52-year-old Gordon E. Samel, and injuring his passenger. The officers involved were identified as Daron A. Cooper, a six-year trooper veteran and a K-9 handler in the Palmer Patrol Unit, and officer Brandon L. Gray, a two-year employee of WPD. According to a trooper dispatch report, at 8:37 p.m. Sunday, a citizen reported two apparently intoxicated men inside a white Chevrolet truck. A trooper spotted the truck less than 10 minutes later, parked behind it and knocked on the window. The men allegedly did not cooperate, but instead fled. After the truck was encircled by trooper and Wasilla Police Department vehicles, a trooper and a police officer approached the car on foot. Samel allegedly put the truck into reverse and headed for the police officer. Both officers fired. Samel was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger was treated for a wound to his arm and released. The incident was still under investigation.

Coast Guard searching for man who fell overboard in Bering Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard said it is searching for a 42-year-old man who fell overboard while working on the fishing vessel Seeker in the Bering Sea Wednesday morning. The search -- which includes Coast Guard helicopters, area fishing vessels and other good Samaritan boats -- are looking for the unidentified man in waters about 10 miles northwest of Umiak Island. The Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley is also en-route to the search area. Weather in the area was making the search difficult -- with winds blowing up to 35 mph and 10-foot seas.

Rack 'em up: It's the moment consumers have been waiting for -- well, some consumers, anyway. Nordstrom Rack will be opening its doors in Anchorage next year. Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc. announced the newest addition to midtown Anchorage's The Mall at Sears Wednesday morning, with plans to open in the fall of 2015, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sears will continue to be the mall's anchor store. Nordstrom Rack, which sells trendy apparel at discounted prices, will occupy 35,000 square feet of the mall.

Sterling man charged with sexual assault out on bail: A Sterling man who Alaska State Troopers say sexually assaulted a woman in front of her two children has been indicted on a slew of charges, but is already out on bail, according to the Peninsula Clarion. Levi T. Mchone, 24, allegedly assaulted the woman in a room at Otto Landing Inn off the Sterling Highway on Feb. 23. A warrant was issued for his arrest three days later, and he was picked up between Palmer and Wasilla the next day, having already tried to flee the Kenai Peninsula, the Clarion reported. Mchone was arraigned March 7, and released on bail after posting a $5,000 cash performance bond and being assigned a third party custodian. Read more, at the Peninsula Clarion.

Coast Guard looks for missing houseboat owner: The Coast Guard reported Wednesday that they were searching for the missing owner of a houseboat that was spotted near a breakwater in a Ketchikan harbor. Coast Guard Petty Officer Grant Devuyst said that the vessel was spotted near the Safeway grocery store in that community, though he wasn't sure if it was seen on the harbor-side of the breakwater or the outside, where the Tongass Narrows separate the city from its airport. The Coast Guard had deployed a Jayhawk helicopter and a 47-foot vessel to search for the houseboat's missing owner, identified as John Anderson, after investigation revealed that the houseboat had been recently occupied, including hot coals in the stove and a dog aboard the vessel.

Trooper helicopter airlifts missing snowmachiner: A missing Big Lake snowmachiner got a ride home courtesy of the Alaska State Troopers' Helo 3 Tuesday, troopers said. Troopers reported that they received a call about a snowmachiner missing in the Papoose Twins area at about 5:21 a.m. Tuesday. At about 8:50 a.m. the trooper's helicopter departed, and it found 58-year-old Debora Underwood walking on Butterfly Lake. Troopers said that Underwood's snowmachine had overturned and that she'd spent the night in the woods, but was warm and uninjured, and was transported, by helicopter, back to her camp.

Tip leads to wanted man: On Tuesday, Anchorage Police notified media outlets and the public they were seeking 40-year-old Golden Theodore Salyers on charges of sexual assault and criminal trespassing. Salyers was taken into custody Tuesday night without incident, according to a release from APD Communictions Director Jennifer Castro on Wednesday morning, who credited an anonymous caller with providing police the information they needed to track Salyers down.

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Waiting for a woman to win: "When will a woman win the Iditarod again?" That's what The Hairpin's Lauren O'Neal wants to know. Like a lot of sled dog racing followers, O'Neal is a big fan of Aliy Zirkle, and went to bed on Monday night believing that "for the first time in over twenty years, a woman would win the Iditarod," she wrote. "But when I woke up...alas. My dreams of a matriarchal utopia of ice and puppies had been dashed." O'Neal gives readers unfamiliar with the race a quick primer on women who've won the Iditarod in the past, rounding out the accomplishments of Libby Riddles and Susan Butcher with a touch of the drama they endured -- a moose attack on Butcher's team that left two dogs dead, for instance -- and gives a nod to Dallas Seavey, this year's champion, before returning to Zirkle, and the deferred hopes she represents for fans such as O'Neal. "But me and my imaginary friend Susan Butcher's ghost were rooting for Aliy!," she writes. "Zirkle's take, according to USA Today: 'Sure, yeah, hindsight, blah, blah, blah … second's pretty good.' But second place three years in a row? Second place by two minutes? Girl, forget that you're a superhuman snow-beast dog-empress for a second and come cry it out with me. And then next year, you got this. Next year."

Cigarettes in exchange for a cab ride? In an incident that was reported under the dual headings "robbery" and "theft of services," Alaska State Troopers say they are still investigating an incident between two people Tuesday evening in Fairbanks. Troopers say they responded to a business on Geist Road after they received a disturbance call. According to troopers, 29-year-old Robert Parker, of Fairbanks, complained that a cab driver "forcibly took his pack of cigarettes." The robbery of the cigarette pack, troopers said, happened after an argument between the two, which happened after Parker could not pay his cab fare. Investigation, troopers say, is ongoing.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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