Anchorage police have arrested a 21-year-old man who's accused of causing a multi-vehicle pileup in a Mountain View intersection while driving a stolen Chevy truck.
At the time of his arrest, Moataa Ifopo was already being sought by police for skipping a court date for an earlier vehicle theft charge, police said Thursday. Anchorage hit a record for vehicle thefts in 2017 and theft rates have stayed high so far this year.
The episode began about 5:56 p.m. Wednesday, when an Anchorage police officer tried to stop a stolen 2001 white Chevy Tahoe near North McCarrey Street and Mountain View Drive.
Ifopo was the driver, police said. Instead of stopping, Ifopo tried to flee, speeding into the busy intersection of Mountain View Drive and Bragaw Street, police said.
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The truck crashed into two vehicles and side-swiped a third. Debris from that crash flew into a fourth vehicle, causing further damage, police said. Four people were injured, though no one was taken to the hospital, police said.
Ifopo drove a few blocks away, and then he and a female passenger got out of the car and tried to run off, police said.
Police used a dog team to find Ifopo and the passenger, 19-year-old Shania R. Agli, hiding near a snow dump.
Ifopo will face a slew of charges, including assault, leaving the scene of an injury crash, failure to stop at the direction of a police officer and reckless endangerment, police said.
Agli said she hit her head in the crash, police said. She was taken to the hospital, then to the jail, where she was booked on a charge of criminal mischief.