School, parole board member ID'd as shooter in Wednesday incident

WASILLA — A member of the Mat-Su school board and the Alaska parole board has been identified as the man who shot a fleeing suspect in a neighbor’s front yard on Wednesday.

Richard “Ole” Larson has not been charged with any crimes in the case, which began with an Alaska State Trooper pursuit and ended with a burglary suspect shot in the front yard of a home near Larson’s.

A woman who answered the door at Larson’s residence Friday said he wasn’t available to speak to a reporter.

Voters sent Larson to the school board in 2008, when he defeated Pat Purcell. He was re-elected in 2011 without an opponent. He was appointed to a five-year term to the parole board in 2010 and reappointed last year, according to the Senate journal.

According to his biography on the Department of Corrections website, Larson is a retired Department of Corrections employee who worked for 29 years as a youth counselor, correctional officer, sergeant, assistant superintendent and superintendent at various facilities across the state. According to the department, Larson worked at McLaughlin Youth Center, Palmer Correctional Center, the State Correctional Center-annex, Cook Inlet Pretrial Facility, Hiland Mountain-Meadow Creek Correctional Center and the Fairbanks Correctional Center. He retired in 2005 after serving as superintendent of the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility.

Troopers say Mr. Larson shot and wounded Codey Tallman, 24, of Wasilla, following a confrontation between the two that began on Larson’s property and continued onto an adjacent property.

The incident began when Alaska State Troopers attempted to pull Tallman over along Alder Drive after receiving a tip that he was in the Cottonwood Loop neighborhood, according to an affidavit filed in court Thursday by trooper Jason Crockett. A trooper at the scene Wednesday said Tallman's vehicle was suspected in several recent burglaries.

According to charging documents, Tallman fled through the neighborhood off of Bogard Road in his silver Ford Ranger at speeds exceeding 60 MPH. The posted speed limit along the roads is 20 miles per hour. At one point, Tallman allegedly drove his truck around a school bus in a no passing zone while the bus was flashing red lights, then drove through a stop sign, left the roadway and went up on a small hill, almost overturning in the process. The Ranger was driving so fast that Crockett said he lost sight of it.

“Parents who were waiting at bus stops for their children to get home pointed in the direction of where the Ranger went,” Crockett wrote.

At another point, Tallman drove into a mailbox and dragged it under the truck for about two blocks, according to the affidavit.

Finally, the truck stopped at the intersection of Willow Drive and Pine Street and Tallman fled on foot, according to the affidavit.

Nikki Erlendson, Tallman’s girlfriend, remained with the truck, and later told troopers she tried to get Tallman to stop, and said she was “very scared.”

Instead, Tallman bolted through some nearby woods.

Troopers set up a perimeter to try and catch him. They heard dogs barking in an area near where Tallman bailed out, followed by two gunshots, according to Crockett.

“Tallman ran onto the property of Richard Larson,” Crockett wrote. “An altercation ensued and Larson was knocked to the ground. Larson followed Tallman as he went into the woods, and Tallman knocked Larson down a second time, then went back toward the front yard” of an adjacent property.

Larson then told Tallman he was calling troopers, and Tallman struck Larson, knocking a phone out of his hand and his glasses off of his face, according to the affidavit.

“Larson removed a .38-caliber handgun from his pocked [sic] and advised Tallman he was armed and told him to stop,” Crockett wrote.

At that point, Larson told troopers Tallman charged him, and Larson fired, striking Tallman in the leg, according to the affidavit.

“Tallman’s behavior and manner of driving are indicative of a person under the influence of drugs,” Crockett wrote. “Tallman made statements about shooting up and being ‘drug sick’ during the contact.”

Troopers arrived in the yard shortly after to find Tallman suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. He was taken in an ambulance for treatment and later arrested.

Troopers drew Tallman’s blood for testing, Crockett wrote. They also discovered hypodermic needles, and a single pill of morphine sulfate in his vehicle. Erlendson told troopers Tallman was a heroin user.

At the time of his arrest, Tallman was out on bail for previous misdemeanor assault charges, according to court documents and the affidavit.

Troopers charged Tallman with failure to stop at the direction of an officer, one count of fourth-degree drugs misconduct, one count of driving under the influence, one count of reckless driving, one count of fourth-degree assault, one count of reckless endangerment, and one count of failing to stop for a school bus.

Tallman remained in jail Friday afternoon on $100,000 bond.

A trooper spokeswoman said the district attorney’s office would have to determine whether Larson’s ations were justified. District attorney Roman Kalytiak said on Thursday that he had not yet reviewed the case.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.