Spray-paint attack leads to jail

PALMER -- A resident of the Butte was arrested Jan. 11 after he allegedly pepper sprayed another Butte man in the face and threatened to hit him with a golf club.

The incident occurred at Butte Trailer Court, space four, where 38-year-old Kevin Johnson resides. He told Alaska State Trooper Paul Wegrzyn he was sleeping in his living room when Sean A. Sandvik entered without permission.

Sandvik, 25, demanded $150 he claimed Johnson owed him for a vehicle Johnson bought from him a month earlier, according to charging documents. However, Johnson denied owing the money and "shoveled" Sandvik out of the trailer and returned to the couch, documents said.

Seconds later, Sandvik returned with a golf club raised in his hand as though he was going to strike Johnson, Wegrzyn said in an affidavit. When Johnson tried to shut the door to keep Sandvik from entering, Wegrzyn said, Sandvik pepper sprayed him on the left side of his face.

Johnson and a witness, Angila L. Flim, watched out the window as Sandvik broke the window of Johnson's 1987 Chrysler New Yorker with the golf club, according to the affidavit.

Flim told Wegrzyn she was in the back bedroom, but came out when she heard the two men arguing, charging documents said. She confirmed that Sandvik fired pepper spray at Johnson, documents said.

Trooper Wegrzyn contacted Sandvik at his home on Bodenburg Loop later in the day and found that Sandvik had a bottle of "Sabre Red" pepper spray, the affidavit said. Wegrzyn said Sandvik told him he took the golf club and pepper spray for self-defense in case Johnson became violent.

Sandvik alleged that Johnson charged him, forcing him to defend himself with pepper spray, the affidavit said. Sandvik admitted breaking the car windows but contended that he was breaking the windows of his own portion of the car because Johnson still owed him $150.

Damage to the car was estimated at $600.

Sandvik was lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in lieu of $15,000 bail. He was charged with first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and third-degree criminal mischief -- all of which are felonies. He also was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass in the second degree.