Theft victim holds suspects at gunpoint
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Theft victim holds suspects at gunpoint
VIGILANTE: Wasilla man may face charges for firing at alleged thieves.
By Dan Joling
The Associated Press
(Published June 8, 2001)
Two 21-year-old Eagle River men were shot at, chased down and held at
gunpoint Wednesday by a man state troopers say was the victim of a theft
from a vehicle.
Alaska State Troopers say the case is being reviewed and charges could
be filed against all three, including assault charges against the
vigilante.
So far only Hal Lee Jr., one of the two 21-year-olds, has been arrested.
He is charged with driving while intoxicated.
Troopers received a call about 4:40 a.m. and found Lee and the other
21-year-old held at gunpoint on the Glenn Highway at the Knik River
Bridge by a 38-year-old man from Wasilla.
Lee’s arrest followed a chase that took the two vehicles throughout
highways around Wasilla and Palmer.
Troopers say they are investigating the incident in connection with
thefts from at least five vehicles at two locations.
Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said two vehicles were damaged in a
commuter parking lot on Hyer Road near Palmer and Wasilla.
Wilkinson said other vehicles were broken into at a residential area in
Wasilla.
Wilkinson said Lee and the other man were confronted in the neighborhood
by the Wasilla vehicle owner. They fled in a van down a dead-end road.
After the van turned around, the man stepped out of his car with a
shotgun and attempted to stop the pair, who sped by.
After they passed, Wilkinson said, the man fired his shotgun and blew
out the back window of the van.
Wilkinson said the man followed the pair south on the Parks Highway,
east on the Glenn Highway to Palmer, back to Wasilla via the
Palmer-Wasilla Highway, then south toward Anchorage via the Parks and
Glenn highways.
When they reached the Knik River Bridge about 30 road miles from
Anchorage, the van ran out of gas, Wilkinson said.
The men fled on foot, but the Wasilla man fired his shotgun into the
air.
“They decided at that point they had enough running,” Wilkinson said,
and the man held them at gunpoint until troopers arrived.
Wilkinson said the vigilante may be charged with assault.
“At the time he fired, he was not physically threatened,” Wilkinson
said, referring to the shooting at the van.
“You can’t just go shooting your gun at people,” he said.
Wilkinson had no details of the chase, such as how fast the vehicles
were going, other than the route.
“He did quite a bit of chasing,” Wilkinson said of the Wasilla man.
He said troopers do not encourage civilians to take law enforcement into
their own hands in such circumstances.
“Our preference is that they give us a holler and let us do the work,”
Wilkinson said. “We like to keep everybody safe in a situation like
this.”
Troopers said damage was estimated at $5,000 to the vehicles and an
undetermined amount of property, including credit cards, was stolen.
Copyright ? 2001 The Anchorage Daily News
