Crime & Courts

December 28, 2011 8:50 am update
Juneau police say they’ve arrested 29-year old Joseph A. Allen on charges from unrelated crimes and taken to Lemon Creek Correctional Center. Allen is being charged with felony burglary and felony theft.

In a statement issued Wednesday morning, Juneau Police did not say when or where Allen was arrested.

Officers say the investigation is continuing.

December 27, 2011 5:12 pm
Juneau Police are still searching for an armed and dangerous suspect, who they believe is responsible for two burglaries and a stolen car Monday.

Police spokeswoman Cindee Brown-Mills says the suspect is described as a Native or Asian male, between 20 and 30 years old, 6-feet tall, with short black hair. He may also have a mustache.

“Witnesses described him as wearing a black hoodie, black pants, snow boots and a black mask, which he may or may not have on,” she says. “He’s considered armed and dangerous, which is something we really want people to understand. If you see somebody like this, don’t approach him, don’t contact him. Just call the police and let them take care of it.”

About noon Monday, police say the man, armed with a rifle, entered a house in the 8000 block of Thunder Street. He pushed a woman onto the floor and pointed the gun at her, but she escaped to a neighbor’s and called police. Witnesses say they saw the man get into the woman’s car and leave, reportedly with her purse.

Just after 4 p.m., a woman returning to her home in the 4500 block of Wood Duck Avenue found a man in the house. She ran out and called police. When they arrived, they found a chair pushed up against a back window, the screen removed, and the house rifled. A handgun was missing, but the burglar left behind the items stolen from the Thunder Street house.

The stolen vehicle also was located on Wood Duck.

At 8:30 p.m. Monday, a resident of the 4400 block of Columbia Boulevard told police he found a man sleeping in his garage, but when police arrived the man was gone.

Juneau police believe all the incidents are related. Brown-Mills says if anyone sees a man matching the suspect description, they should call police at 586-0600, or 911 if he’s acting in a threatening manner.

Juneau Police investigators are looking into the recent death of a Sitka man, who may have committed suicide.

Police Spokeswoman Cindee Brown-Mills says on December 13th at about 3 a.m., officers responded to a report of a man who’d been stabbed in the chest at the 5000 block of North Douglas Highway. The man, 55-year-old Byron John Paul, died the same day at Bartlett Regional Hospital. Brown-Mills says witnesses told police that Paul’s death was a suicide.

“Anytime that we have an unattended death, which means a death that there’s not a doctor present – which we get a fair number of those – our investigators want to make sure they do a thorough job,” says Brown-Mills. “And that’s what they’re doing in this case. They just have a few questions they want to get answered, and they’re looking into them more. But we don’t really have anything else to release.”

Brown-Mills declined to discuss the nature of the investigation and what prompted it, or where Paul – a Sitka resident – was staying and what he was doing in Juneau.

Juneau Police are looking for the driver of a pickup truck that rolled onto its side and slammed into a power pole last night near Amalga Harbor.

According to a JPD release, a caller reported the accident last night about 9:35.

Officers determined the 2006 Ford truck had been travelling out the road, when it crossed from the outbound lane to the inbound lane, flipped onto its side and came to rest against the power pole, which was broken. The truck was totaled.

Alaska Electric Light and Power briefly shut off power in the area while officers removed the vehicle from the pole.

The incident is under investigation.

Bail has been set at $20,000 for Kenneth Edward Nalan, accused of shooting a man at a party Tuesday night in Juneau.

Nalan was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Juneau District Court on charges of first degree assault. He was originally arrested on a second degree assault charge. Both are felonies.

Judge Tom Nave prohibited Nalan from contacting others at the party, including the victim, 33-year-old John Nicholas Duran. Nalan has been assigned a public defender.

Juneau Police say Duran was shot in the face with a handgun during a party hosted by Nalan at a home in the 3000 block of Glacierwood Drive. Alcohol was involved.

Duran remains at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, reportedly in stable condition.

Lt. Kris Sell says Duran was an invited guest at the party. She says police are still gathering details of the shooting.

“We still have plenty of work to do on this investigation, including talking to the victim, who we hope recovers well enough to do that in the near future,” Sell says. “What we’ll do is ask Seattle PD to help us out with this. We have a good relationship with them and have done that before.”

Nalan is being held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. A preliminary hearing has been set for Dec. 30th, unless a Juneau grand jury returns an indictment before that date.

Juneau Police have made an arrest in last night’s shooting in the Mendenhall Valley.

Thirty-five year old Kenneth Edward Nalan of Juneau is accused of assault in the 2nd degree — a class B felony punishable by up to ten years in prison and a 100-thousand dollar fine.

The victim was identified as 33-year-old John Nicholas Duran. Police say he’s in stable condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Tuesday night police responded to a home in the 3000 block of Glacierwood Drive and found Duran with a gunshot wound to his face. He apparently was shot with a handgun. Police believe alcohol was a factor in the incident.

No other details have been released. The case is under investigation.

A Juneau man who was shot in the face Tuesday night has been medevac’d to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Juneau police say the 33-year-old unnamed man was shot at a home in the 3000 block of Glacierwood Drive in the Mendenhall Valley.

Police responded to the home at 10:39 p.m. to find the man with a gunshot wound to his face. He apparently was shot with a handgun.

Capital City Fire and Rescue transported the shooting victim to Bartlett Regional Hospital. He was subsequently evacuated to the Seattle trauma center.

While police say alcohol was involved in the incident, circumstances of the shooting are still unclear.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.