HELPLESS HIKERS: Thefts continue at popular local trailheads

PALMER — Dozens of hikers have returned from their trek to their favorite local trailhead to find turmoil.

In the last two months, 16 Alaska State Trooper dispatch reports have been filed with similar reports of theft. Of the 16, the Butte trailhead alone has had six reported thefts. Six of these robberies have allegedly taken place in the middle of the day. With little evidence to be found once hikers return, law enforcement officers struggle to find pieces to put together. Often, there is nothing that can be done about these stolen items.

“We have to treat each case on it’s own. If something happens at a trailhead, report it, because we can’t do anything if nothing is reported. We might not be able to solve that particular case,” Megan Peters, spokesperson for AST said. “Having the knowledge lets us try to have some kind of pre-emptive measure like more patrols. The more we know, the more we can piece things together and hopefully find somebody responsible.”

These robberies carry a direct theme. The hiker arrives, parks, and goes on their stroll. Once they return, their back driver’s side window has been broken in, and their purse, backpack, or whatever visible items of value have been taken. Of those who responded to a Facebook post seeking victim accounts, their vehicles had not been rummaged through or damaged. The thieves hit and run.

A pair of recent high school graduates perused the end of Maud Road near Jim Creek for a campsite for only 15 minutes when they were hit. The two young women returned to find both of their cars had been broken into in the 15 minutes that they were gone. The weather was cloudy, there was only one other family camping at that site.

“We were only gone for a short while, so someone had to have been watching us which is the very scary part,” the victim, Jenna Sutton, of Palmer, said.

The thieves stole a designer purse, wallet, jacket, and headphones. The victims reported it to AST, but have not been contacted since the incident. As they returned to their cars, they saw a vehicle they believe to be suspicious. Two males were driving away in a blue Toyota minivan, believed to be about 10 years old.

Community Development Director with the Mat-Su Borough Eric Phillips is acutely aware of the string of thefts that have been plaguing trailheads from the Butte to Trapper Creek. The borough installed $270 infrared cameras at the trails to count hikers and monitor which trails receive more activity. The sensors had been installed at the Matanuska Peak Trailhead on Smith Road and the Crevasse Moraine trail system. Phillips believes that the thieves thought that these sensors were security cameras and stole them so that they could not be found. Phillips has been with the borough for six years, and sees a disturbing trend.

“It’s not just the breaking into the cars but the whole package, thievery, vandalism, car break ins. It sure feels like the trend is up,” Phillips said. “Our number one priority as far as Parks and Recreation... We’re trying, to with lighting, with cameras, trying to make an impact on public safety at these public areas. It’s our top priority, we just have to get the funding the make that happen.”

Phillips said that robberies are not the only criminal activity increasing in popular areas for recreation. Vandalism, improper disposal of trash, and stealing parking fees from the tubes or ‘Iron Rangers’ as the Parks Department refers to them, are also on the rise. Phillips describes the problem as much bigger than just breaking into cars. The Parks Department has been testing out using cameras at undisclosed locations. The cameras are not meant for long-term use for surveillance. The two types of cameras that have been installed are game cameras. One can be monitored at any time from a remote server, and the other stores images that need to be collected. Phillips hopes to find funding to install security cameras at trailheads so that suspects can be developed and charged with these rampant crimes.

Peters said that these strings of thefts are not unique to the Valley, and that they happen every summer in many recreational areas across the state. However, with the growing population density of the Valley, criminals may have concentrated their efforts on easier targets. Many of these thefts occur when there is not a crowd of people around. Often these thefts are midday on a weekday with poor weather conditions, cloudy or overcast. Three different vehicle break-ins were reported on July 30 alone. Are these criminals arriving to score their loot, or are they waiting and planning for these thefts?

“I think these people are just cruising around and looking for an opportunity,” said Phillips.

Some protective measures that hikers can take is to not leave anything inside their car of value that can be taken while you are out hiking.

This is a developing story. If you have been affected by the trailhead robberies, please contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com