Crime & Courts

Man set fire to pickup with people inside, Fairbanks police say

An argument over a stolen vehicle in Fairbanks last week escalated to a man setting a pickup truck on fire while two people were inside, troopers said.

Fairbanks resident Dexter Reedy, 27, faces one count each of first-degree arson, third-degree assault, fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons and reckless endangerment in the Thursday incident, Alaska State Troopers said.

According to a criminal complaint against Reedy, written by Trooper Silas Hessler, three people were traveling in the victims' truck, including a female driver, her boyfriend and a man whose Chevrolet Avalanche pickup had recently been stolen.

Although the Avalanche's theft hadn't been reported to law enforcement, the boyfriend told troopers he had heard where he could find it.

The group went to Kevin Shank's home, where they saw the Avalanche parked in Shank's garage. Shank drove up in a truck and sideswiped their vehicle, prompting an argument that was still going on when Reedy showed up.

"Dexter told (the Avalanche's owner) that he was going to kill them if they didn't leave," Hessler wrote. "(The owner) told Dexter that he wasn't afraid to die. (The boyfriend) said that when (the owner) said that, Dexter said, 'Then I'll kill your friends.' "

According to the boyfriend, Reedy grabbed a 5-gallon gas can from the back of Shank's truck, dumped it all over their vehicle and set it ablaze while he and his girlfriend were still inside. She tried to drive away, he said, but the pickup was stuck in snow.

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The two of them "scrambled" to get out, Hessler said, afraid the truck would explode.

Shank and Reedy used another vehicle to tow Shank's truck clear of the fire. The girlfriend called troopers to the scene shortly after 4 p.m., adding that the couple had escaped the fire unhurt.

University of Alaska Fairbanks police and troopers responded, Hessler said, and a UAF police officer stopped the truck that had been used to tow Shank's vehicle. Reedy, a passenger in the truck, jumped out and ran away; troopers tracked him to a nearby home he had burst into, where they found him and a set of brass knuckles he said were his.

Reedy was taken to the Fairbanks Correctional Center, where he was held without bail. He remained in custody there Tuesday, according to a statewide inmate database.

Chris Klint

Chris Klint is a former ADN reporter who covered breaking news.

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