A Chugiak man has been charged with weapons misconduct after he allegedly shot a black bear while intoxicated.
According to Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Renee Oistad, police were called to Rusticate Drive at around 2 a.m. Thursday. Oistad said officers determined Jacob L. T. Stephan, 33, shot and killed a black bear that was eating out of a dumpster, but that the shooting was illegal.
"The situation in which Stephan killed the bear did not constitute 'defense of life and property,'" Oistad wrote in a Tuesday email.
According to police, the bear had not threatened anyone and Stephan was intoxicated at the time. Police also alleged he fired a rifle in the direction of nearby houses while dispatching the bear.
[Third trash-eating bear killed in Eagle River]
According to Alaska statutes, it's illegal to possess a firearm "when the person's physical or mental condition is impaired as a result of the introduction of an intoxicating liquor."
Stephan was charged with three counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a weapon.