A tearful Ryan West was arraigned in Juneau Superior Court yesterday (Thursday), where he pleaded not guilty to second degree murder in connection with the death of 19-year-old Gabriel Carte. The 25-year-old West was indicted by a Juneau Grand Jury a week ago. Public Defender David Seid entered the plea on West’s behalf. “I’d ask…
Public Safety
Police warn of plastic bottle pressure bombs
Pressure bombs – plastic bottles filled with Drano, water and tinfoil – have been exploding around Juneau. Police have received several calls in recent weeks about the homemade bombs found in various places; the remnants of one near the road on Dudley Street just last week. There’ve also been reports of explosions, then pieces of…
Man arrested after vehicle fire, chase
A 20-year-old Juneau man is behind bars after allegedly leading police on an early morning chase Sunday. Keith Hanson is charged with driving under the influence, failure to stop, and driving without a valid license. According to a JPD press release, police responded to a report of a vehicle fire near Douglas Harbor at about…
Woman indicted in PFD fraud case
A Soldotna woman has been indicted for lying on her 2010 Permanent Fund Dividend application. According to the state departments of Law and Revenue, a Juneau Grand Jury has charged 62-year-old Sherrie Ann Ace of one count of unsworn falsification in the first degree, a Class C felony. The indictment also charges Ace of second…
Body found; no foul play suspected
The body of a Juneau woman was found in a ditch Friday morning near the intersection of Valley Boulevard and Mendenhall Loop Road. Juneau police have identified her as 48-year-old Marilyn Williams, born on February 26, 1963. A witness on his way to a bus stop saw the body and called police. Capital City Fire…
Cold case closed of Wasilla abduction and assault
Alaska State Troopers are reporting a big break in a cold case of a child kidnapping and sexual assault. Brooks E. Jackson of Wasilla has been linked to the crime, twenty years after it occurred. The eight-year girl was abducted by a stranger from a bus stop near Wasilla in February, 1991. She was taken…
Courtwatch – Qualified Immunity
This week’s segment focuses on a recent opinion issued by the Alaska Supreme Court on whether a police officer and the municipality can be sued for some conduct, such as tasering an 11-year old child.
Heating oil theft on the rise
At least $10,000 worth of heating oil has been stolen from Juneau homes so far this year. Since January, Juneau police say there’s been nearly twice the number of thefts than were reported for all of 2010. The latest was for $200 in oil stolen from a tank at the back of a Lemon Creek…
NTSB investigators review recent crash data
The wreckage of a single-engine plane that crashed July 24th on Douglas Island rests in a Juneau hangar. A National Transportation Safety Board crew is piecing the aircraft together for the investigation into the accident that killed Charles Luck and his wife Liping Tang-Luck. The NTSB preliminary report indicates the plane crashed very shortly after…
Services scheduled for Kevin Thornton
Services are planned this week for a young Juneau man who died recently in Arkansas from injuries suffered in a random assault. A Rosary will be said for Kevin Thornton on Monday, Aug 8th, at 7 p.m., at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in the Mendenhall Valley. A funeral Mass is Tuesday, Aug 9th, at 7…