The man who allegedly helped two people escape a jail in the Western Alaska village of Pilot Station late Tuesday had a female accomplice -- who remains at large -- and leveled a shotgun at four guards and police officers, according to Alaska State Troopers and court documents.
Court records show Dale Fancyboy, 22, and Nicole Polty, 23, each charged with two felony counts of first-degree escape. Fancyboy is also charged with four counts of third-degree assault and one second-degree count of theft and vehicle theft -- all felonies -- plus misdemeanors.
The two inmates, 22-year-old Dion Joseph and 19-year-old Thomas Heckman, are charged with one count each of first-degree escape. Troopers said that at the time of their escape, Joseph was being held on charges including two prior walkaway escapes from the jail, and Heckman was being held as an accomplice to Joseph in theft and burglary incidents.
Joseph and Heckman were at large as of midday Wednesday when a family member took action, troopers said.
"At approximately (1:30 p.m. Wednesday), a family member of one of the escapees brought Heckman and Joseph to the local jail and turned them over to troopers," troopers wrote in a Thursday dispatch.
Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said troopers from nearby St. Mary's had arrived in Pilot Station, a village of about 630 people on the Yukon River, to find Joseph and Heckman, but their search didn't take long.
"The family member essentially marched the two in and handed the two over to us," Peters said. "People in the village essentially went out and took care of it."
According to an affidavit describing the jailbreak -- filed Wednesday by Trooper Brian K. Haley -- Polty and Fancyboy went to the jail at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Nicole Polty later told troopers she knocked on the door and identified herself to Jacob Polty, one of the jail's two emergency guards along with Clement Edwards.
"When Jacob unlocked the door, Nicole Polty and Dale Fancyboy, who was armed with a pump-action shotgun, charged into the jail," Haley wrote. "Dale held Clement and Jacob at gunpoint, telling them if they moved he would kill them."
After Fancyboy allegedly unlocked the cells holding Thomas and Dion, Haley said Edwards vowed to call the police after the jailbreak. Fancyboy allegedly responded by destroying the jail's telephone, then leaving the jail with Nicole Polty and the inmates.
On their way out of the jail, they encountered village police officer Patrick Fancyboy, who told troopers that he and fellow officer Brian Fancyboy were returning from a routine patrol.
"Dale came out of the building from behind them and pointed the shotgun and told them to leave or he would 'blast them,'" Haley wrote. "Dale then stepped off the porch and began walking toward them with the shotgun pointed at them ordering them to get back on their ATV and leave."
Haley said the officers drove away as instructed.
Just after midnight Wednesday, a local woman reported hearing her snowmachine being stolen. Her boyfriend soon found it outside Pilot Station's AC store.
"Dale was on the snowmachine and when (the boyfriend) confronted Dale he accelerated away," Haley wrote.
Dale Fancyboy was arrested by local VPOs at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to Haley.
When troopers initially spoke with Nicole Polty, Haley said she told them that she and Dale Fancyboy had previously discussed a plan for the escape. Troopers subsequently said Thursday that a warrant had been issued for her arrest.
Peters said that in small communities like Pilot Station, emergency guards are hired to operate jails if someone is in custody. Under state statute, guards are required to meet a simple list of requirements including not having any felony convictions or substance addictions.
Emergency jail guards can be hired from an existing list of qualified candidates or selected from fresh applicants, Peters said, depending on the community. She didn't have word Thursday on how the Pilot Station guards were selected.
"These guys are not armed -- they're there to make sure the prisoners are there," Peters said. "That way, if there's a VPO or a (village public safety officer), they can do their job without having to sit there and watch the person."
It wasn't clear Thursday whether any family relationships existed between Nicole and Jacob Polty, or among Dale, Patrick and Brian Fancyboy.
Correction: The name of the trooper in this story was misspelled in an earlier version. His name is Brian K. Haley.