PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS: Sept. 7, 2017

OnStar helps solve Wasilla truck theft

A 27-year-old Fort Wainwright man picked the wrong vehicle manufacturer when allegedly stealing a parked vehicle from a Wasilla business. Christopher A. Watson faces felony counts of first-degree vehicle theft, along with first and second-degree theft after Wasilla Police said he was involved in the theft of a 2016 GMC Denali pickup along with approximately $3,000 in tools.

According to court affidavits, a South Enterprise Street resident informed Wasilla police that he had heard a car door shut around 5 a.m. on Aug. 26. The complainant stated he rose out of bed just in time to see the vehicle pulling out of the driveway and provided dispatch with the license plate number. The complainant told officers that he had left the keys in the $75,000 vehicle and that the tools had been taken out of a job trailer located near where the vehicle had been parked.

Police informed the complainant to contact OnStar and begin tracking the vehicle. OnStar representatives in turn, called Mat-Com dispatch and began providing live updates on the vehicle’s location. Officers located the vehicle at the intersection of Old Matanuska and Hermon roads and contacted Watson, the driver and, 37-year-old Mandy L. Edelen, a passenger currently facing third-degree theft charges from an Aug. 19 incident in Wasilla.

According to the court affidavit, Watson told police he had gotten the vehicle from a friend he couldn’t name about two hours prior to being stopped, which records noted was prior to the vehicle being reported stolen. Police say Edelen informed them the two were at her camp when they got into an argument and Watson walked away. She said when Watson returned; he was driving the stolen vehicle but would not explain where he got it.

Watson is scheduled for an Oct. 19 pretrial hearing in Palmer Superior Court.