Anchorage suspect arrested in Houston

MAT-SU — A man running from Anchorage police wound up eluding multiple police agencies for 19 miles before his pickup died and caught fire in Houston.

According to a press release from the Wasilla Police Department, officers there first got word of the pursuit at 7:51 a.m., Sunday.

The Anchorage Police Department says officers initially attempted to stop the vehicle on the Glenn Highway near Eklutna.

The pickup kept going into Wasilla, where that city’s police tried to pull him over. North of the city, Alaska State Troopers picked up the pursuit.

“The suspect vehicle drove in a reckless manner by attempting to hit Trooper O’Brien’s patrol vehicle as he was passing the suspect vehicle,” according to the WPD press release.

The truck came to a stop and caught fire in Houston, across from Little Miller’s. Houston firefighters extinguished the fire.

Wasilla police identify the driver as James Grafton, 56, of Anchorage. He was charged with failure to stop for a police officer and assault. He as jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $30,000 bail and ordered to find a third party to watch him before he can be released.

As of late Monday afternoon, he was still jailed at Mat-Su Pre-Trial. Grafton’s criminal history is relatively brief. In 2008 and 2012, he pleaded guilty to assault charges. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to trespassing. All of those cases were in Anchorage. Sunday’s incident was the first that saw him charged in Palmer.