Man arrested following standoff with troopers

WASILLA — A standoff in the Williwaw Way subdivision landed a 41-year-old man in jail early Tuesday morning on charges he fired a slingshot and possibly a pellet gun at Alaska State Troopers.

In an affidavit filed in the court case against Jose Pacheco, 41, Trooper David Frebel Jr. writes that at 10:02 p.m. Monday, troopers were dispatched to Tanana Drive “for a report of multiple gun shots and victims down.”

Frebel and at least six other troopers responded. Frebel took a position 100 feet away, watching one side of the home and using a neighboring house as cover.

Frebel reported that at about 1 a.m. Tuesday, he heard what he believed were gunshots.

“I was unsure exactly where these shots were coming from inside the residence and thought they were coming in my direction,” he writes.

He talked to Trooper Jason Crockett, who said the shots appeared to be coming out of a window.

“After several shots, Pacheco broke out a window … and started shooting at troopers with what was originally reported over the radio as a handgun (but was) later determined to be a slingshot,” Frebel writes.

At about 1:30 a.m., Pacheco walked out of the house through the front door.

Troopers say no victims were found at the house and, for that matter, nothing that one could consider a true firearm. What troopers found were a slingshot, a pellet rifle and two bows.

“One of the bows was a Bear compound bow capable of hunting and killing game animals. In addition, at least one arrow was located inside the residence. All weapons were readily accessible to Pacheco,” Frebel writes.

The trooper writes that after Pacheco was under arrest, he talked to his law enforcement colleagues and all of them reported feeling fear that Pacheco would shoot them.

Which is why Pacheco was charged with seven counts of assaulting a peace officer. Named victims are: Crocket, Frebel, Trooper Dugger Cook, Trooper Neil Blakeslee, Trooper Darin Jetton, Trooper Sgt. David Herrell and Trooper Jesse Lopez.

Pacheco is not an unknown person to law enforcement. On June 24, 2013, he made a failed attempt to rob a Chevron station, according to charging documents in a case that was later dropped.

Pacheco “came into the store and bought a pack of cigarettes. Immediately afterward, he said, ‘this is a stickup,’” according to Wasilla Police Officer Bobby Rader’s court filings in the case. The clerk allegedly asked Pacheco to repeat himself because she “wasn’t sure if he was serious, because another employee who was inside the store after her shift knew the suspect and had said hello to him.”

When she realized he didn’t have a gun, the clerk told Rader that she locked the register, put up a “closed register” sign and walked outside.

Though Pacheco was charged with robbery immediately after that incident, the charges against him were dropped a week later.

Other cases on Pacheco’s record include a 2009 guilty plea to misdemeanor assault and a 2008 guilty plea to drunken driving.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270

or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.