A knife-wielding grocery store thief was arrested Monday with the help of a citizen witness, Anchorage police said.
Around 9:15 p.m. Monday, police were called to the Carrs supermarket on Huffman Road in South Anchorage. A man had stolen groceries and then pulled a knife on a store security officer who confronted him in the parking lot, police said.
The man left as a passenger in a blue Saturn. A witness started to follow the car while calling 911, according to police.
With the help of the caller, police tracked down the Saturn roughly 3 miles away at the Dimond Center Hotel. Officers pulled the car over. The man in the passenger seat, identified as Chase Walters, ran.
"Officers chased Walters on foot and caught him fairly quickly," according to police.
Walters was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery, third-degree assault and third-degree theft, police said.
[For first time, APD teams with store security to catch shoplifters]
Officers determined that the driver of the Saturn did not know about the robbery and thought Walters had purchased the groceries himself.
Walters was in custody Wednesday at the Anchorage jail.
He was the subject of an Anchorage police alert in December when officers said he was arrested after police spotted him driving a stolen car. Police said he refused to get out of the car and an officer used a stun gun on him.
In November, police sent out another alert about Walters. Officers said he was making threats with a knife at a Spenard home. He refused to leave the house, police said, and a SWAT team deployed gas.
According to the Alaska Department of Corrections, Walters was booked at the Anchorage jail Nov. 17 and released Dec. 16. He was arrested again Dec. 27, released Jan. 24 and then arrested five days later.