Willow man facing 19 charges

May 2, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A Willow man wanted in connection with a January theft of snowmachines and trailers was arraigned in Palmer Superior Court last week on 18 felony counts and one misdemeanor.

Felony charges against Joshua T. Green, 21, include nine counts of second-degree theft, seven counts of first-degree criminal mischief, one count of first-degree theft and one count of first-degree vehicle theft. Greene's sole misdemeanor charge is first-degree criminal trespass.

According to Green's grand jury indictment, the stolen property included a 2006 Ski-doo belonging to Alaska Snow Safari's, a Yamaha motorcycle belonging to Colin Krieger, a Suzuki motorcycle belonging to Carey Nilan-Harris, and more than $500 in property belonging to Jason Wood, owner of The Mod Shop.

Greene was indicted by a Palmer grand jury on four counts of second-degree theft-by-receiving on April 20, and Jason Feiser, an investigator with the Alaska State Troopers, said he expects indictments on more counts to be handed up.

Green was a passenger in a car stopped for speeding by the Houston police on April 13, Feiser said, and subsequently was arrested. He was identified as a suspect in the theft case after a trooper investigation of Lowell Johnson, 35, who was arrested Jan. 17. Troopers took Johnson into custody after stopping his 1989 Chevrolet pickup truck near Mile 63 Parks Hwy. Johnson was towing a snowmachine trailer that had been reported stolen from The Mod Shop in Anchorage.

After getting a search warrant for two residences associated with Johnson, troopers found about nine stolen snowmachines, some already cannibalized for parts, a propane heater for the trailer, firearms, snowmachine parts and about 30 marijuana plants, according to a trooper report.

Johnson later was indicted on one count of first-degree theft, one count of second-degree theft and two counts of third-degree misconduct involving weapons. Court records show Johnson was in custody at a bail hearing on Feb. 17, but after that he did not show up for court appearances. A grand jury then indicted Johnson on two counts of failing to appear.

According to court records, on March 14 this year, Greene was arraigned in Anchorage municipal court on charges of driving with a canceled, suspended or revoked license, and operating a vehicle without insurance. He was out of custody by the next day and, because he was in jail in Palmer, didn't make it back to his April 17 court date in Anchorage.

All of Greene's 2005 charges were filed in Anchorage courts, including operating without insurance and two failure-to-appear charges lodged on May 18, and a charge of operating a vehicle without insurance lodged on March 4, 2005, in addition to two moving violations. A petitioner in Anchorage also filed a restraining order on Greene that expired Jan. 6.

In 2004, Greene was charged with minor consuming alcohol in Palmer, had a moving violation in Anchorage and was sued in small claims court in Anchorage.

At Monday's arraignment, Judge Beverly Cutler left Greene's bail at $75,000 cash only.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.