Wasilla man sentenced for 2021 armed carjacking and reckless evasion

ANCHORAGE — A 36-year-old Wasilla resident, Bryson McEneaney, was sentenced to over nine years in prison for recklessly evading the police and using a firearm during a carjacking.

According to court documents, McEneaney fled from an Anchorage Police officer during a traffic stop Dec. 17, 2021.

McEneaney traveled north on the Glenn Highway towards Palmer, prompting the Palmer Police Department to deploy spike strips in an attempt to stop the vehicle. McEneaney avoided the strips by driving into oncoming traffic and stopping the vehicle.

Officers tased McEneaney as he left the vehicle, but he managed to continue his escape on foot towards a stopped vehicle and seized it at gunpoint with a rifle.

Law enforcement located McEneaney in the stolen vehicle on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, according to a press release from the Anchorage Police Department.

McEneaney ultimately wrecked the vehicle while attempting to evade Wasilla Police officers and fled on foot again. He was eventually located by law enforcement officers behind a transit building and taken into custody.

McEneaney was convicted of multiple violent felonies from 2016, including vehicle theft, assault and burglary prior to the 2021 evasion incident.

The FBI Anchorage Field Office, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department, Palmer Police Department and Wasilla Police Department combined forces to investigate; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Vandergaw prosecuted the case.

“Mr. McEneaney’s selfish and careless actions in 2021 were the pinnacle of his habitual violent offenses over the years. I want to thank our law enforcement partners who did tremendous collaborative work to ensure Mr. McEneaney was off the streets and no longer a threat to our communities,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska S. Lane Tucker stated in a recent press release. “My office will continue to work with law enforcement to prioritize prosecuting violent offenders who continually show disregard for the health and safety of Alaskans.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com