KDLG - Dillingham

On Wednesday afternoon, a Dillingham man and his son alerted police to trespassing and drug activity at a house on Cessna Drive.

The house is owned by his ex-wife, who had called and asked him to check out the place after she’d received numerous calls of the possible problems there, Straley said.

“She says there’s supposed to be nobody in the house and asked me and my son if we could go board the house up and put ‘No Trespassing-Keep Out’ signs up. We went to go do that, and there were a bunch of cars there,” he said, recognizing one vehicle in particular that had been transporting Christian Young around Dillingham for several weeks.

“We called Chief Pasquariello,” Straley said. “The police showed up and they found some illegal drugs and a rifle there.”

Police did not disclose details of their investigation at the house, calling the matter a dispute between a landlord and a tenant.

Some paraphernalia was seized.

Straley, a former cop, said he wasn’t disappointed that no one was arrested.

He wants users to get help, not jail time.

The occupant was told to vacate, and Straley plans to board the house up Thursday evening.

Now Straley is shifting his focus to protecting his property on Emperor Road, where he said a chainsaw, weed eater, and two large gas cans have been stolen from this summer.

He’ll be using cameras to keep an eye on his property and what he believes are drug sales happening all hours along Emperor Road.

Straley hopes others will do the same, and maybe a Neighborhood Watch program will take shape.

“Here in Nerka, there’s cameras already for about a quarter mile of Emperor. Then they’re going to be all the way down around the corner on Widgeon Lane within the next week,” he said. “These little … you’re effecting everybody’s personal property rights and the values of their properties. So we’re just going to protect our belongings from the drug-related crime that seems to be just sweeping this town like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

The National Crime Prevention Council has recommendations and tips for starting a Neighborhood Watch program, as does the National Sheriff’s Association.

State troopers in Dillingham said Wednesday they would happily partner with residents in the community on such a project.

An Anchorage man was arraigned Wednesday following his arrest Tuesday evening by Dillingham Police.

Authorities had been looking for Christian Andre Young, 24, of Anchorage through the weekend, and a final tip helped them find him at a Nerka residence.

Young was arrested quietly Tuesday evening by Dillingham police, and arraigned Wednesday morning on charges he violated felony probation.

He was sought in connection with a warrant in a robbery case, though authorities suspect he had been in town in connection to heroin sales for several weeks.

No drug allegations have been officially charged.

The warrant called for a bail amount of $1,000, but a new violation of unauthorized travel to Dillingham was added by an Anchorage probation officer. Based on that, Young will be held without bail until an arraignment Sept. 14 in Anchorage.

About a dozen residents showed up for the routine arraignment.

 

The added presence Wednesday wasn’t necessarily about the defendant himself, but about a larger message that the community will keep pushing back, Carol Luckhurst said.

“If I had a sign I’d stand out there and tell him that he’s not a wanted person here in Dillingham,” she said.

“The people that are here, we’re community members,” she said. “My fight now is to get more of our tribal leaders and our city leaders more involved.

Luckhurst has watched the drug problems get a lot worse in the last four or five years, she said.

She’s particularly concerned that young people are growing up normalized to the heroin abuse and the harm it’s causing.

“I don’t want my grandson, or somebody else’s grandchildren thinking this is the way life is. It’s not. There’s so much more for all these young individuals,” she said. “They have potential. And then they find themselves in this situation. I’m not saying everybody’s involved in it, but there’s a lot of people that have so much more that they could be doing than they’re doing now.”

A 24-year-old Anchorage man wanted in connection with a robbery and for felony probation violations was taken into custody Tuesday evening in the Nerka subdivision.

One final tip led police to Christian Andre Young, and ended a brief saga that had kept area residents a bit on edge through the Labor Day weekend.

“We found him in a home in Nerka,” Dillingham Police Chief Dan Pasquariello said. “He was underneath a blanket, sleeping on a couch.”

With three officers present, Young was arrested quietly about 5:30 p.m., and was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning at the Dillingham courthouse.

In a news release, Pasquariello thanked the public for providing information.

“High news media, and social media notice of the incident flooded DPD with tips throughout the holiday weekend,” he said in the release. “Police received tips that Young was hiding in the Nerka subdivision, the Neqleq subdivision, the Woodriver Rd, traveling to Clark’s Point, spotted in Ekwok, hiding in Aleknagik, spotted in boats and cars, and living in bushes.”

“Police spent the holiday weekend following up on tips without success,” he said in the release.

Despite some earlier warnings, Pasquariello said he has no plans to charge anyone with hindering prosecution.

While authorities believe Young was in Dillingham and nearby villages in connection with heroin trafficking, there was no evidence collected during his arrest to support those suspicions, and police have no intention of charging him with any new crimes.

 

Updated Wednesday, Sept. 7: Anchorage man sought in connection with robbery apprehended

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Dillingham’s most sought after fugitive remains at large, but has likely left Dillingham Police Department’s  jurisdiction.

Police and state troopers were looking for Christian Andre Young, a 24, of Anchorage through the weekend, starting about noon Friday when he fled on foot from police near the airport.

“He still hasn’t been caught,” police chief Dan Pasquariello said Monday morning. “The last verifiable sighting we have of this man here in the community of Dillingham would have been around 3 a.m. Saturday morning. From information we’ve received, we suspect he’s in the community of Aleknagik, trying to get upriver.”

Pasquariello said that the last “verifiable sighting” was at an area home Young was at to make phone calls.

Young is wanted on a robbery charge out of Anchorage. News of the search for his whereabouts Friday and his suspected ties to heroin trafficking to town caught the attention of the public, and police were inundated with tips that kept them on their toes over the holiday weekend.

“And we’re grateful for those tips,” said Pasquariello. “As far as the town being in any danger, I think a little bit of hysteria happened. There’s always somebody with a warrant. (Other) people got arrested on warrants while we were looking for Christian Young.”

Still, the amount of attention garnered during the search will likely make Young’s business dealings in Dillingham a little tougher in the future.

Pasquariello said he is now a “known entity” to more than just his associates.

“We’re confident that if he does come back, warrant or no, people will inform us,” the chief said.

Dillingham Police and Alaska State Troopers are searching for man who is wanted on a robbery charge and suspected of trafficking narcotics in Dillingham.

Christian Andre Young, 24, of Anchorage, was last seen on foot in the area between the airport and the Airport Y-intersection.

Young is wanted on an arrest warrant for robbery.

Police attempted to arrest Young at the airport, but a vehicle picked him up from the terminal.

When police stopped that vehicle, only the driver was inside, and Young has not been found.

State troopers describe Young as 6-feet tall, and about 185 pounds.

Young is a wanted fugitive, and the public is asked to call dispatch at 842-5354 or dial 911 with any information regarding his whereabouts.

Police say they believe he may have been in town for roughly a week, and was scheduled to fly back this afternoon.

A 21-year-old Levelock man was arrested on charges in a case involving sexual abuse of a 14-year-old related to the him.

Alaska State Troopers arrested Eric Andrew Tallekpalek, who is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old female relative relative on July 30, following an investigation that started with a tip to the Office of Children’s Services.

Tallekpalek was arrested on a charge of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, which is a class B felony.

Tallekpalek told authorities he was drunk but thought the sex was consensual.

Children’s Services notified state troopers of the alleged crime on Aug. 9, and an investigation was opened.

The victim told authorities that Tallekpalek was drunk and had followed her home through the village.

Despite her protests, he pulled her into the woods and had sex with her.

Tallekpalek acknowledged having sex with the teenager twice, once before the fishing season, and once after, in an interview with King Salmon-based trooper Jesse Lopez.

“Tallekpalek went on to say the second time he had sex was when he got back from fishing he was drinking a lot and could barely remember but he heard about it,” Lopez said in a statement.

Bail was set at $20,000 at his arraignment Wednesday, Aug. 29.

A pre-indictment hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 9.