PCC prisoner apprehended

PALMER -- A prisoner serving time for a first-degree sexual assault conviction escaped from Palmer Correctional Center sometime before noon last Thursday and was apprehended the same day, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers received a call from the prison at 11:59 Thursday, Feb. 13. The escaped prisoner, 55-year-old Paul Kvasnikoff, was being tracked through the woods surrounding the prison by corrections officers when troopers arrived.

A press release from troopers said that a perimeter was set up by troopers with assistance from corrections officers from both Palmer Correctional Center and the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility. Troopers also used a trooper helicopter and borrowed an infrared device from the Palmer Police Department during the manhunt.

Kvasnikoff was tracked from the prison toward Moose creek and the Glenn Highway, according to the press release, which said a trooper on board the helicopter used the infrared device -- which creates images from heat -- from the air to locate Kvasnikoff who was hiding under a tree.

Kvasnikoff was booked into Mat-Su Pretrial Facility. Troopers are forwarding escape charges against Kvasnikoff to the district attorney's office