Palmer skate park ramp recovered in Wasilla

PALMER — A ramp stolen from the Palmer skateboard park wasn’t gone for long.

Officers, responding to a tip from a local student who had heard about the mayor and city council’s offer of a reward, tracked it down Wednesday.

The ramp was reported missing Aug. 25, and Wednesday’s tip told officers the ramp was in Wasilla. Palmer police called Wasilla police and, by Thursday afternoon, they’d recovered the ramp and the Palmer’s Public Works Department was working to repair and replace it. At the same time, police officers were preparing charges against those they believe stole the large structure, which was bolted in place.

Whoever ends up being charged in the case, one thing is clear — they had to do some work to get the large, heavy ramp out of the park.

“It’s not like three kids on bikes showed up and took it out,” Palmer Police Detective Sgt. Kelly Turney said. “It’s like, maybe 5 feet long, foot-and-a-half off the ground. It was bolted to the asphalt.”

Turney said Thursday that since the case isn’t his and since, reading the case officer’s notes, it’s unclear who is to be charged in the case, he was uncomfortable releasing the suspects’ names.

The park is a stone’s throw from the Palmer Police Department, although not visible from the parking lot or the building.

“Even if the guys were sitting here in the squad room writing reports, it’s 300 yards down the road around a curve, in the trees. You can’t see it from here anyway,” Palmer Police Commander Tom Remaley said.

But the thieves, whether they knew it or not, chose a time of year when police are everywhere but at the station. Aug. 25 was during the Alaska State Fair.

“Here’s a theft case on North Valley, here’s an assault at fair security,” Remaley said, reading from Palmer’s Aug. 25 police logs. “Here’s something on Anna Street. Here’s a gun call on South Bailey. Here’s intoxicated people at fair security, here’s a REDDI [report every drunk driver immediately] report on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. We were everywhere, just not at the skate park.”

It’s unclear when exactly the ramp was taken. Aug. 25 was a Monday and the report was of a ramp missing, not in the process of being taken. The thieves could have struck over the previous weekend.

But come the end of the year, when all the statistics are in, that weekend will probably be shown to have been the busiest for the department all year, as it was the first weekend of the fair.

“The first Saturday was the biggest day and night for us,” Remaley said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.