Wasilla man’s ‘suicide by cop’ attempt fails

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers report that a 37-year-old man was unsuccessful in his apparent attempt to commit “suicide by cop.”

According to a trooper press statement, officers responding to a 911 call went to a Wasilla home on Village Loop at 12:21 a.m. Wednesday.

“Matthew J. Nardini, 37, of Wasilla, called 911 and reported to Mat-Com (dispatch) that he accidentally called 911 and was attempting to dial 411,” troopers report.

Those kinds of reports don’t generally stop officers from responding to a call though. The first two troopers to show up came upon a disturbance.

Once they’d sorted everything out, they concluded that Nardini had lured them there.

“(He) pulled out a firearm and threatened to commit ‘suicide by cop,’” according to the press release.

Troopers did not oblige Nardini. They did, however, arrest him for assaulting an officer. They tacked on a domestic violence criminal mischief charge after allegedly finding out he’d slashed a family member’s tires and broke the passenger’s side window of the vehicle. Troopers estimate the damage at $750.

Nardini was jailed without bail pending arraignment at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. Jail records late Thursday afternoon showed he was still there. Court records show Nardini isn’t a stranger to the legal system. Most of his cases are minor offenses, but there is an open case in which he faces multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor.

—Andrew Wellner