Anchorage man suspected of car theft wanted on multiple warrants arrested

Update 8 a.m. Wednesday:

Kevin B.L. Orense was arrested late Wednesday by officers with the Investigative Support Unit, police said in a statement Thursday morning.

Original story:

Police are asking for the public's help in finding a 21-year-old Anchorage man who they say stole a Chevy pickup and used it to smash into another car at his ex-girlfriend's house.

Police say Kevin B. L. Orense, along with another suspect, stole a green 1996 Chevy pickup Sept. 16, then used it to drive into another car during an argument at an ex-girlfriend's house a few days later.

Orense has multiple warrants out for his arrest, the Anchorage Police Department said in a statement Monday. He is charged with first-degree vehicle theft, second-degree theft, leaving the scene of an accident, felony probation violation and failure to appear, among other charges.

On Tuesday, police updated the charges, saying that Orense now has an additional felony warrant out for his arrest. Police said he got in an argument with a woman about a different stolen car and then produced a handgun before fleeing from police.

Just after midnight Sept. 16, police got a call that a woman's green Chevy had been stolen from her apartment on the 2400 block of Sentry Drive. A witness told police that she had seen a large man pushing the truck down the street. Then a silver truck pulled up behind the Chevy and pushed it, bumper to bumper, down the street and out of view, police said.

Around 4 a.m. Sept. 17, Orense was found "slumped over the wheel" of a blue 2002 Subaru Impreza in a parking lot on the Old Seward Highway, police said. The license plates belonged to a different car. Orense had a misdemeanor warrant out for his arrest, and he was taken to the Anchorage jail. He posted bail later that day, according to police.

Police say then, around 4 p.m., Orense went to his ex-girlfriend's house on East 10th Avenue, where he got into an argument with her roommate. Using the stolen green Chevy, Orense hit a black Honda Civic that belonged to the roommate's boyfriend, pushing it down the street until it ran into a chain link fence on the 1000 block of Nelchina Street, police said. Orense left in the Chevy afterward.

The unoccupied Chevy was found the following day, on Sept. 18, on West 36th Avenue, police said.

Police issued warrants for his arrest but were unable to find Orense.

Then on Monday, police responded to the 5100 block of East 26th Avenue, where a woman said that she had spotted her boyfriend's 2013 burgundy Honda Civic parked in a driveway. She said the car had been stolen, although police later found it hadn't been reported as such. The woman got into an argument with Orense, whom she knows, police said. Orense went inside the home and emerged carrying a handgun, police said.

As officers approached the home, Orense "was able to get out of the house" and speed away in the Honda Civic. Police added a felony warrant for misconduct involving a weapon, resisting arrest and reckless driving.

Police describe Orense as 5 feet 7 inches tall, 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call APD's non-emergency line at 311, or submit an anonymous tip through Anchorage Crime Stoppers.