Robbed hitchhiker known to his attacker

MEADOW LAKES — A hitchhiker who was hit over the head with a pipe and had his backpack stolen might not have known his attacker, but he did know his friends, according to court filings in the case.

A sworn statement Alaska State Trooper Sgt. Michael Henry filed in the case against Jonas Jensen, 25, says the hitchhiker called troopers at around 1:30 p.m., Dec. 23 to say he’d been robbed walking along Pittman Road a half-mile north of Parks Highway. Troopers went to talk to him and surveyed his injuries.

“(He) had a large swollen area behind his left ear. His lower back was swollen and red and his right hand was swollen,” the statement says. “(His) little finger on his right hand appeared in an unusual position, bent to the side.”

He told troopers he knew the car that pulled over — a Ford Crown Victoria with a push bumper on the front and a socket for a spotlight. It belonged to Jason Freeland. But he didn’t know the white, 6-foot-2, 230-pound guy got got out of the car, swearing and demanding a key.

A few days prior, the hitchhiker told troopers, Freeland had asked him to return a key to a girl’s house but the hitchhiker didn’t have it.

The hitchhiker told troopers that “the unknown male pulled out a metal pipe approximately 16-18 inches long … and began hitting Miller on the head and back,” Henry writes.

As he was being attacked, the hitchhiker dropped his backpack and raised his arm to defend himself.

“The male grabbed his backpack and stated to (the hitchhiker), ‘I’m gonna get you again m-----f-----. You’re dead,’” then got back in the car with the hitchhiker’s backpack.

The pack had $480 cash, a red Acer laptop, a moose bone and an Eastwing brand hatchet, the hitchhiker told troopers.

Just before 4 p.m., troopers headed over to Freeland’s house. They’d since cross-referenced Freeland and his vehicle against traffic stop logs, so when they spotted the Crown Victoria in the driveway they knew they had the right trailer home in the Vienna Woods subdivision.

As it turned out, the man standing in the driveway was a man with a bandana on his face was Freeland. When troopers indentified themselves he ran into the trailer.

“In hot pursuit of the suspect, we entered the trailer and detained the male,” Henry wrote.

Also in the trailer was Jonas Jensen and two women.

Troopers started their investigation interviewing Freeland, who was the only person in the trailer who agreed to talk.

He said Jensen was the mystery man who jumped out of the Crown Victoria and assaulted the hitchhiker. He knew there was a scuffle but not that Jensen had gotten back into the car with a backpack.

“Freeland said he didn’t see exactly what happened,” Henry wrote.

Troopers arrested Jensen and impounded Freeland’s car, planning to apply for a search warrant.

Jensen was charged with robbery, theft, assault and weapons misconduct. That final charge added on because, according to Henry’s account, troopers asked Jensen multiple times if he had weapons on him but Jensen didn’t admit he had two metal spikes strapped to his ankle until he was about to be searched.

Jensen was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, but as of Saturday had been moved to Palmer Correctional Center, according to jail records. He’ll need to find someone to watch him before a court will allow him out on bail.

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