A man who Anchorage police say fired on a state trooper during a chase across the city on Police Memorial Day is now facing a slew of charges in connection with the incident.
Police had been looking for David Fatialofa, 35, for nearly a week when he was arrested Friday. He faces charges of vehicle theft, burglary, failure to stop at the direction of an officer and second-degree theft in the Friday incident. In addition, 19-year-old Raihana Hansen, who police say acted as Fatialofa's getaway driver, was charged with hindering prosecution. Nobody was injured during the chase.
According to a criminal complaint against Fatialofa, he had visited a construction site in the Ship Creek area on May 1, driving there with a friend in a stolen Mitsubishi. The friend stayed with the vehicle, as Fatialofa went inside. Approached by the owner of the building, Fatialofa came out of the building wearing a "ballistic vest" and flashed a pistol before leaving in the Mitsubishi, prosecutors wrote in a criminal complaint.
Police saw Fatialofa driving the Mitsubishi in Midtown on May 4 and tried to box him in, prosecutors wrote, but he "was able to narrowly push past them and escape."
By 3:30 p.m. Friday, when police say Fatialofa was spotted driving another stolen vehicle -- a Honda Civic -- in Spenard, he had arrest warrants for both vehicle theft and hindering prosecution. Officers in unmarked vehicles tracked the Civic east and called for backup to apprehend Fatialofa.
"At the time of the sighting, over one hundred officers from across the state were attending the Police Memorial Day ceremonies at the State Crime Lab on (Martin Luther King Jr.) Drive," police wrote. "As the ceremony ended, officers who were following the stolen vehicle reported that they had been fired upon."
"As an Alaska State Trooper drove by an alley where Fatialofa was hiding, Fatialofa fired two shots into the trooper's vehicle from a 9-millimeter pistol," prosecutors wrote. "He then drove off."
According to Alaska State Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain, the trooper Fatialofa fired upon wasn't struck. The trooper didn't return fire, DeSpain said.
According to the Anchorage Police Department, a "large number" of officers, backed up by state troopers and troopers' Helo-3, began searching for Fatialofa and forming a perimeter to locate him. Police spokeswoman Anita Shell said Monday that not all of the officers at the ceremony were involved.
"I think only about 65 of them responded," Shell said.
Police said the Civic was found abandoned on Russian Jack Drive, slightly north of its intersection with Reka Drive. Officers notified schools in the area, but Anchorage School District spokeswoman Heidi Embley said classes at those facilities had already ended for the day when the chase took place.
"A couple of Eastside schools were notified and took safety precautions as appropriate based on the number of people still in their buildings," Embley wrote in an email.
Soon after the perimeter was set up police saw a Volkswagen Passat, "known to be associated with Fatialofa," drive in and out of the area.
"A traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle near the intersection of DeBarr Road and Bragaw Street," police wrote. "Inside were two women, two toddlers, and Fatialofa who ran when the vehicle came to a stop."
Prosecutors said Fatialofa's wife had picked up Hansen in the Volkswagen earlier in the day from Alaska Regional Hospital before receiving a call that Fatialofa was on the run from the police. Hansen took the wheel and drove the Volkswagen to a trailer park, where they picked up Fatialofa, prosecutors wrote.
Police stopped the car and contacted the women; a relative was called to care for the children. Police said Fatialofa ran away and tried to hide in the vicinity.
"Fatialofa was flushed out of that area by officers and ran north toward the nearby Costco parking lot," police wrote. "In the lot were two citizens who saw and heard the police activity and witnessed Fatialofa running directly toward them. Both citizens grabbed Fatialofa while officers brought him to the ground and took him into custody at about 4:40 p.m."
Upon questioning by police, prosecutors said Hansen denied knowing much about Fatialofa or the trailer where he got into the car.
"Hansen was equivocal about whether she realized that the man they picked up was the man who was running from the police," prosecutors wrote. "Hansen denied knowing who the man was; when shown a picture of Fatialofa she denied ever seeing him."
Neither Fatialofa nor his wife corroborated Hansen's story, however, with Fatialofa's wife saying Hansen knew him well and "understood that they were going there to help Fatialofa escape apprehension by the police."
Both Fatialofa and Hansen were held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex; on Saturday, a judge appointed a public defender for Fatialofa at his arraignment. He was initially held on $22,000 bail, with a court-approved third-party custodian required for his release.
Hansen's bail was set at $2,500.