Trial under way for man accused of killing K-9 officer ‘Helo’

PALMER — On Thursday, Almando Anthony Abarca stood accused of shooting and fatally wounding an Alaska State Troopers (AST) K-9 Officer named Helo. This was chief among other charges including assault, cause of fear of injury with a weapon, reckless driving, and felony possession of a firearm.

After selecting a jury on Wednesday, the first day of trial was on Thursday. Both sides made their opening statements and the State of Alaska (SOA) presented their case with numerous pieces of evidence, which included dash camera footage from Palmer Police Patrol Sergeant, Luke Szipszky’s vehicle.

Assistant District Attorney Shawn Traini represented the SOA to make the case against Abarca, stating “Actions speak louder than words” and “the defendant’s actions speak loudly.” His main argument was that Abarca’s intent was clear. He slowly counted: 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9” and said, “9 shots until the gun was empty.”

According to Szipszky’s testimony, Abarca led police on a high speed chase through Palmer before taking a side road near the Parks-Glenn highway interchange around 5:30 a.m. As seen in the dash camera footage, Abarca stumbled out of the vehicle and took off into the woods toward an “old abandoned house.”

At this point, the Palmer Police has back up from AST and Wasilla police so several officers were on the scene, including AST Christopher Havens with his partner of three-and-a-half years, Helo.

Two passengers were removed from the suspect’s green Geo Sedan, which included Angel Abarca.

Shots could be heard in the video and a lot of screaming. This, according to the prosecution, is when Almando Abarca opened fire and hit Helo. Officers returned fire, striking Abarca in the shoulder.

AST officer Jared Noll was also on the scene and provided testimony. He was the one who picked up Helo and took him to Far Country Animal Hospital where Helo was pronounced dead a few hours after the standoff. Helo was a six year old German Shepherd and the first AST K-9 to die in the line of duty.

Prior to the 2016 encounter, Abarca was on probation from a 2014 incident in which he was involved with the theft of an ATM machine from a pawn shop near Wasilla.

The trial continues Friday morning at 8:30.