Crime & Courts

California men face multiple charges after hitting deer in Ketchikan

A pair of California men face a handful of charges after hitting a deer with a truck in Ketchikan last month, then salvaging it without notifying authorities, Alaska Wildlife Troopers said.

In an online dispatch, troopers wrote Jae Kae Roders and Joseph Whitt, both 26, were in a "small red Toyota truck" with California plates when it struck a deer on Third Avenue bypass in Ketchikan, March 1.

Instead of reporting the accident, the two loaded the deer into the bed of the truck and drove away, troopers wrote.

But later the same day, troopers contacted the pair in the parking lot of the Woodside Apartments, and found them in possession of the deer.

They also found them in possession of firearms, which, as convicted felons, they couldn't legally possess, troopers said. And they found the truck to be unregistered and uninsured.

Online court records show Whitt and Roders were charged with unlawful possession or transportation of game, not notifying the state of a big game animal killed or injured by a vehicle, no vehicle insurance and operating a vehicle with an expired registration.

The men were also cited for third-degree weapons misconduct, troopers said, and are set to be arraigned in Ketchikan District Court.

Megan Edge

Megan Edge is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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