After five days at large, former Bethel police officer Aaron Fedolfi was arrested in Anchorage on Tuesday night on a warrant accusing him of trying to sexually assault a drunken woman while on the job.
Fedolfi made his first appearance Wednesday at the Anchorage jail courtroom on third-degree attempted sexual assault and official misconduct charges, both misdemeanors.
Magistrate Judge Kathleen Doherty rescheduled Fedolfi's District Court arraignment for Thursday. She said the court did not have the Bethel-related charges needed to make decisions about his case.
Fedolfi asked Doherty if he'd be able to bail out in Anchorage. The judge noted Fedolfi's arrest warrant set his bail at $20,000 and required a third party to take responsibility for his oversight as custodian.
The case stems from an incident in early morning Sept. 12, when the woman got into Fedolfi's police cruiser. The Bethel woman was "in his custody or apparent custody," according to charging documents prepared by state prosecutors. The charges said Fedolfi drove the woman to the Bethel dog pound, then tried to force her to perform oral sex.
Bethel Police Chief Andre Achee said Tuesday night that it is common for police officers and local community service patrol workers to pick up intoxicated people to ensure their safety. But, he said, every contact is supposed to be logged. Depending on the state of the person picked up and the capacity of Bethel programs, individuals may be taken to a relative or friend, to the sleep-off center, to jail or to the hospital, Achee said.
The dog pound, he said, is in a remote part of town near the sewage lagoon and dump. Police have been called to respond to issues at a couple of homes beyond those facilities but that area is not known as a big party hangout, he said.
A second officer who interviewed the woman had body camera footage of that interaction. Fedolfi didn't follow police protocol and record his interaction with the woman; he also failed to radio dispatch when he picked her up, the charges say.
Fedolfi is no longer on the force. He remained at large until he was arrested in Anchorage on Tuesday night, said assistant attorney general Adam Alexander. Anchorage police spokespeople did not immediately return a request for additional information about Fedolfi's arrest.
Alaska Dispatch News reporter Lisa Demer contributed to this report.