Wrangell police arrested a man Thursday who allegedly stole and damaged at least eight cars and trucks during the past week.
Police Chief Doug McCloskey said the man won’t be named until he’s formally charged. That could happen Friday.
McCloskey doesn’t have a cost estimate yet, but said it will be a significant amount because of the extent of the damage.
“Everything from just running out of gas to burned. Some of them were wrecked and stuck in the ditch,” he said. “One was up on a log, a 3-foot log. He was just very, very, very tough on the vehicles.”
Some alcohol was involved, McCloskey said, but he’s not sure whether it was a contributing factor.
Multiple charges will be filed, McCloskey said.
“Some of them will actually be felony theft and some of them would actually be more of the criminal trespass end of the joy riding,” he said.
The first thefts happened over the weekend and continued through Wednesday night. McCloskey said the alleged thief was not arrested at the scene of the latest crash.
Nothing like this has happened in Wrangell for at least 25 years, the police chief said.
