A 41-year-old man has been charged with vehicle theft and driving under the influence. Danny Gonzales of Mansfield, Massachusetts was arrested around 3:30am on Sunday, after allegedly driving a Grand Aleutian van into a ditch off of Airport Beach Road.
According to court documents, a taxi driver witnessed the accident and reported the incident to the police after determining that Gonzales was drunk and unable to exit the vehicle. When an officer arrived at the scene, Gonzales allegedly told him that he was a Unisea employee and authorized to drive the van. Police established that Gonzales was in possession of keys meant for a Dunlap GMC pick-up truck. Those same keys had managed to fit into the stolen van’s ignition, according to Sgt. Mike Holman with the Department of Public Safety.
Good Samaritans rushed to help yesterday afternoon when an SUV flew off the road into Captain’s Bay. The passengers, a 23-year-old male and a 3-year-old, were able to exit the vehicle before police arrived on scene.
Sergeant Mike Holman says the preliminary investigation shows that the driver was speeding and lost control of the car. The 3-year-old was treated for mild hypothermia at the Iliuliuk Clinic.
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a workers' compensation case that started in Unalaska.
Longshoreman Dana Roberts slipped on the ice while working as a dispatcher for Sealand in 2002, injuring his back and shoulder.
After being declared permanently disabled, he started receiving workers' compensation based on how much he was being paid when he was injured. Roberts argues that he should be getting paid based on 2007 wages, the year a lower court affirmed his disability.
A stateless fishing vessel suspected of illegally drift-netting in high seas is being escorted into the Port of Dutch Harbor this weekend. The Coast Guard intercepted the Bangun Perkasa in mid-September, 2,600 miles southwest of Kodiak.
The crew initially tried to cut their nets and flee when spotted by a patrolling Coast Guard helicopter. Once boarded, they falsely claimed the vessel was registered in Indonesia. The boarding team discovered 10 miles of drift net, 30 tons of squid and 30 shark carcasses onboard the Perkasa. High seas drift-netting is banned by the United Nations.
This weekend, a police officer was harmed while making an arrest.
Officer Patrick Bliss sustained minor injuries while apprehending Andrew Philemonof, 28. Philemonof allegedly attacked Bliss and two other officers with a knife around 2am on Saturday, after being confronted about urinating in public while inebriated.
“He became a little bit aggressive and refused to put down his bottle of beer,” says Sgt. Mike Holman with the Unalaska Department of Public Safety. “During the arrest, he had a knife in his hand and struggled with the officers – he told the officers that he intended to cut them. He also kicked two different officers in the head.”
For the most part, car thefts in Unalaska occur when someone gets into the wrong pick-up truck at the grocery store without realizing it. Not so this week. Over the course of 24 hours, two different men were arrested for stealing vehicles on the island while driving under the influence.
A pair of small fires kept the Unalaska Department of Public Safety busy last Friday. One was an accidental burn at Alyeska, but the other was intentionally set at the underground World War II-era hospital.
A late night accident last week resulted in minor damage to multiple parked cars and major damage to one moving vehicle.
Devon Davis, 19, allegedly sped through a stop sign on Tuesday around 2am before causing the accident, says Sgt. Bill Simms.
“Basically it was an accident where the individual ran off the road and into a concrete barrier that was surrounding an electrical box on Unisea property,” says Simms. “The damage to the vehicle itself was extensive. I would say it was a total loss. The driver suffered some injuries as well.”
Arne Fuglvog is scheduled to appear before a federal judge today in Anchorage.
The former Murkowski staffer is slated to plead guilty to a misdemeanor for falsifying his fishing records and taking in $100,000 in extra income from illegal fishing near Yakutat in 2005. During that time, he also served on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which helps oversee Alaska’s fisheries.
