An Anchorage man was arrested early Monday after he allegedly fired off shots, rammed into officer vehicles in a parking lot and later fled on foot, police said.
Michael R. A. Pope, 34, was arrested Monday morning after briefly trying to evade police, even after he was tased, the Anchorage Police Department said in a written statement.
On May 28 at 12:54 a.m. police began getting calls from East Anchorage. Residents said they heard shots being fired.
Police talked to some witnesses at the 1000 block of San Fernando Street, where officers found there was "some type of disturbance outside amongst a group of males."
Pope had fired off several shots, then left in a red Dodge Ram pickup, police found.
At 1:08 a.m., an officer saw him driving through the Costco parking lot on Debarr Road.
In the Northway Mall's parking lot, the officer tried to stop Pope. But Pope didn't yield, and instead began driving recklessly, police said.
"Officers re-engaged when Pope began ramming several police cars that had arrived in the area," police said. Pope also ran into an unoccupied Subaru Forester, damaging its side.
After that, Pope jumped out of the truck and ran, followed by several officers. He was tased, but it didn't seem to affect him, police said, and he kept running.
In the 3200 block of Penland Parkway, Pope "physically ran into the side of a patrol car," police said.
Pope continued to struggle, and was taken to the ground, where he was put both in handcuffs and leg irons – handcuffs for your ankles – according to police.
Pope was arrested at 1:13 a.m., just 19 minutes after officers got the first reports of shots fired.
Three police officer cars were damaged. Nobody was hurt.
In the Dodge Ram, officers saw a rifle and two holsters. Pope, a felon, cannot legally possess firearms. He was also wanted on parole violations, police said.
Pope was arrested early morning Monday, charged with third-degree assault, failure to stop, reckless driving, misconduct involving a weapon in the first and third degrees, operating under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident, fourth-degree criminal mischief, and resisting arrest, police said.