Troopers: Wasilla man ran off road, ran from cops, left child behind

WASILLA — A 31-year-old Wasilla man was taken into custody this morning after allegedly abandoning a 4-year-old child in a stolen Toyota 4 Runner and running from Alaska State Troopers near Houston.

Troopers said Robert Crawley — who was wanted for a parole violation — was tracked down using a police dog and charged with first-degree vehicle theft, second-degree burglary, providing false information and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

The incident began at around 1:12 a.m. on the Parks Highway near Cheri Lakes Drive, when troopers found Crawley in a vehicle that had driven off the highway. Troopers said in an online dispatch that Crawley gave them false information before running away. They used K9 Blazer, a police dog, to hunt Crawley down and take him into custody.

After locating Crawley, troopers found he was wanted on a no bail parole warrant for first-degree vehicle theft and 12 counts of second-degree vehicle theft. Troopers said the Toyota Crawley was driving had been stolen in the previous 36 hours, and that when they went to the address the vehicle was registered to, they found it had been burglarized.

Crawley was taken to Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer and held on his warrants as well as $15,000 cash only bail with a third party custodian requirement for the new charges.