FROM THE BLOTTER: Charges filed after theft, attempted sale of video games

PALMER — Two teenagers trying to hock stolen video games apparently wound up on the wrong end of a robbery Saturday with a bloody nose and criminal charges to show for it.

According to a Palmer Police Department press release, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old tried to sell an Xbox and three games to an Anchorage 15-year-old and a pair of Anchorage 16-year-olds.

“Two of the kids grabbed the games and ran, and the third one punched the 14-year-old in the nose and went to grab the Xbox but only got the bag it was in,” said Cmdr. Tom Remaley with Palmer police.

Remaley said the burglarized business was in the Key Bank Plaza and the attempted sale of the merchandise took place at the nearby Palmer A-Moose-Ment Park. He said at some point officers James Gipson and Luke Szipsky responded to the park.

“Gipson and Szipsky show up and captured the whole bunch,” Remaley said.

The appropriate charges — burglary, theft, robbery, assault — will be forwarded to Juvenile Justice. All of the teenagers were released to their parents.

Three teens injured, one critically,

in early morning rollover

WASILLA — A 16-year-old Palmer boy is in critical condition and two other teens are injured following an early Sunday morning rollover accident near the intersection of Bogard Road and Earl Drive.

An Alaska State Troopers report says the 16-year-old driver of a 1995 Ford Explorer apparently was traveling east on Bogard Road at about 3:44 a.m. Sunday when he crossed the center line, entered a ditch and rolled the vehicle several times.

The driver of the Explorer was flown to Providence Alaska Medical Center in critical condition, the report says. Two passengers in the vehicle, both males ages 16 and 17, were transported to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

The report says only one of the three was wearing a seat belt and that the vehicle is a total loss. Alcohol is also not believed to have been a contributing factor in the accident.

Driver flees rear-end collision

WASILLA — An apparently severely damaged Toyota Camry pulled over on the Parks Highway led Alaska State Troopers to arrest the driver for leaving the scene of an accident.

According to a trooper press statement, at 1:30 p.m. Thursday troopers spotted the 1996 Camry at Church Road and Parks Highway and stopped it for “several equipment violations.”

The driver, Kenneth Rawson, 48, of Wasilla, had allegedly just gotten into a wreck wherein he rear-ended a Ford Mustang a mile north of the traffic stop.

Troopers estimate damage to the Camry at $4,000 and damage to the Mustang at $1,000, though the Mustang, at least, was still drivable.

Rawson was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident, driving on a revoked license and not having an ignition interlock device installed on his car as per a court order.

He was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $3,000 bail. Jail records Monday afternoon showed he had since bailed out.

Troopers look for people who torched car

WASILLA — Perhaps the people who set a car on fire in a relatively developed area of the Valley forgot that such scenes are generally reserved for Jim Creek.

Whatever the case, troopers would like to talk to them.

According to a trooper press statement, at 1:05 a.m. Saturday troopers happened upon the vehicle as it burned behind a business on Mayflower Court. Troopers say firefighters doused the flames.

“Investigation revealed the car had been lit on fire using an accelerant,” troopers report.

Troopers are considering charges of criminal mischief and criminally negligent burning if and when they find the responsible parties. Anyone with information is asked to call troopers at 745-2131 or Mat-Su Crime Stoppers at 745-3333.

—Andrew Wellner and Greg Johnson