Trouble knocks at Big Lake home twice in a week

BIG LAKE — First Alaska State Troopers responded to the home on Kenaka Bena Loop to recover a stolen snowmachine. Then two days later, they were back to investigate an alleged drive-by shooting.

According to court filings, the snowmachine, a 2010 Arctic Cat M8 worth $8,500, was reported stolen at 10:49 a.m., Sunday from a weekend cabin on Flat Lake. The cabin’s owner told troopers he woke up that morning to discover it gone.

“It looked as though someone pulled it out of (the) yard with a small truck,” Trooper Wallace Kirksey wrote in an affidavit filed in court.

A neighbor said he saw a black Suzuki Sidekick towing the snowmachine on a trailer on the lake. Another neighbor said she later saw it at a home on Kenaka Bena Loop.

Bright and early the next morning, troopers were at that Kenaka Bena home and “observed two males later identified as Christopher Stearns and (a 17-year-old boy) in the garage dismantling a white Arctic Cat M8,” according to Kirksey’s affidavit.

Stearns and the boy ran upstairs and wouldn’t come to the door, but Stearns’ father let troopers inside.

“Christopher and (the boy) admitted to stealing the snowmachine, towing it to Christopher’s house, wrecking it while riding it and selling parts to it on Craigslist,” according to the affidavit.

Stearns was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, charged with vehicle theft, criminal mischief, trespassing and contributing the delinquency of a minor. Troopers say the teen who was with him was jailed at the Mat-Su Youth Facility. Jail records Thursday afternoon showed he was still there.

Two days later, at 6:57 p.m. on Tuesday, troopers were called to respond to that same house on Kenaka Bena.

A man not mentioned in the theft case reported that his neighbor, James Keene, had fired several shots at his house as he drove by in a green Suburban.

Trooper Jacob Graham drove over to investigate. He said he saw .45-caliber shells in the road and talked to the homeowner in the driveway. The homeowner knew Keene and knew it was his Suburban that drove by on the road when the shots were fired at his home.

The shooting, the homeowner said, put him “in fear for his life and that he thought he was going to die,” Graham wrote.

Graham talked to two more people who were in the home at the time — neither of whom were mentioned in the snowmachine affidavit. Both described the shots as coming out of the blue, startling them as they went about their day. Then Graham drove over to Keene’s house on nearby Sequonee Street.

“I observed a green Chevrolet Suburban … in the driveway and two .45-caliber shell casings on the windshield,” Graham wrote.

Keene talked to Graham, at first saying he heard the shots in the distance as he got out of his car. He then admitted to owning a .45.

“Keene later confessed to shooting several rounds at the residence while he was operating his car. Keene reported the reason for him shooting at (the) house was to scare him,” Graham wrote.

Keene was arrested for weapons misconduct and assault.

“While I was transporting Keene to the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, Keene began kicking in the back of the patrol car,” Graham wrote.

The trooper said he pulled over and ordered Keene to stop. He opened the rear door and Keene took off his seatbelt and tried to kick him.

“Keene missed kicking me and kicked the right rear passenger door,” Graham wrote.

Jail records Thursday afternoon showed Keene was still incarcerated. His bail, according to court records, was set at $20,000 and he’ll need to find someone to watch over him before he can be released.

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