Published on December 9th, 2009

Update: Stolen Bethel police car prompts lockdown along Kuskokwim River

By ALASKA NEWSPAPERS STAFF

Suspects who stole a Bethel police car and took it on a wild ride along the frozen Kuskokwim River, sometimes blasting off gunshots, prompted a lockdown in at least one village school near Bethel on Tuesday night, officials said.

About 7 p.m. Tuesday, the police department in the town of 5,600 called the state trooper post in Bethel to ask for help tracking its stolen vehicle, said Beth Ipsen, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers.

Trooper pilot Earl Samuelson, who lives in the village of Napaskiak about 7 miles south of Bethel along the river, took off in his Cessna 185 airplane, keeping an eye on the stolen car and radioing its whereabouts to officials, Ipsen said.

He contacted nearby villages, telling people to stay inside, she said.

Village Public Safety Officer Greg Larson, who works with troopers to enforce the law in Napaskiak, said he was at the airport when the Bethel Police Department called him on his cell phone and told him to watch out for the stolen car with two loaded automatic rifles inside.

He immediately heard at least 15 rapid-fire gunshots from the river and hurried to the banks. When he arrived, he saw the police car a good distance away heading downriver toward Napakiak, the next village.

The police car appeared to have at least two people inside, he said. It was speeding, sometimes spinning in circles, with emergency lights flashing and sirens blaring. A four-wheeler accompanied it, he said.

He heard lots of hollering, he said.

As far as Larson knows, no one was injured.

Asked if anyone was arrested, Larson referred that question to the Bethel Police Department.

Bethel police are investigating the case, and Ipsen could only share details related to the troopers' involvement, she said.

Chief Larry Elarton and other Bethel police officials could not be reached Wednesday morning.

There are no highways leading to Bethel or the smaller nearby villages, so the rivers become roads each winter. Bethel is located about 400 miles west of Anchorage,

Joe Bavilla said he was coaching basketball to students in the gymnasium in Napaskiak, which has about 440 residents.

"We had a phone call come in," he said. "Don't send the kids anywhere."

Coaches kept players in the school until about 8 p.m. when it was considered safe to leave, he said.

As the stolen car sped down the river, four troopers, and possibly a wildlife trooper, were gathering together their cold weather gear to spend the night in villages and help protect them if needed, Ipsen said.

The stolen car was found before they left their Bethel post, between the villages of Napaskiak and Napakiak, Ipsen said.

Larson said he arrived at the abandoned car with troopers.

The car appeared to be in good shape, but one headlight didn't work. The light bar still flashed, he said.

A Bethel police officer arrived later and drove the car back to Bethel, Larson said.

Most Popular Stories

Update: Stolen Bethel police car prompts lockdown along Kuskokwim River