Anchorage fugitive arrested in Wasilla

WASILLA — Wasilla Police Friday arrested a man wanted for leaving an Anchorage treatment center more than a week ago.

Michael Trudeau, 28, of Wasilla, walked away from a federal-court-ordered stay at Genesis Recovery Services on June 1.

According to the Wasilla Police Department Facebook page, Trudeau was arrested Friday at a residence in Wasilla. Details surrounding the arrest, including the time, location and possible participation of other law enforcement agencies, were not provided with the original Facebook post.

In a separate, regularly scheduled press release, officials said Trudeau was arrested at a residence on East Westpoint Drive about 2:07 a.m.

Calls and emails to officials with the Wasilla Police Department were not immediately returned Friday. Trudeau was being held at Mat-Su Pretrial.

According to a request for a warrant filed with the US District Court of Alaska, Trudeau was granted pre-trial release on the condition that he stay at Genesis and undergo drug treatment. According to the warrant filing, Genesis director Anthony Longval picked up Trudeau from the Anchorage Correctional Complex and drove him to Genesis about 10:30 a.m. on June 1. Trudeau completed intake paperwork about 1:30 p.m. and was allowed to go to his room. When staff performed a bed check at 2:30 p.m., Trudeau was gone, according to court filings. A federal judge later ordered US Marshals to return Trudeau to custody.

Trudeau — along with five other defendants — drew the federal charge for his part in an alleged drug conspiracy case that resulted in the December 2015 overdose death of Michael Chalender, 22, of Houston. Before June 1, he’d been held on $25,000 bail at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

Trudeau remained at large for weeks after the other defendants in the drug conspiracy case had been taken into custody. Authorities ultimately arrested him March 16 in Palmer, according to court documents.

Trudeau also is wanted on an outstanding Virginia warrant, and would be held at Mat-Su Pretrial pending extradition to Virginia, according to the post.

The federal proceedings against him and a parallel state case also remain open.

This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.