Alaska News

Anchorage police shoot at stolen truck; driver, passengers arrested

Two Anchorage police officers shot at a stolen truck after the driver allegedly rammed a patrol car in the Muldoon area Saturday morning, a police spokeswoman said Sunday.

No one was hurt in the incident.

The driver of the truck and two passengers were arrested at the scene.

At about 10 a.m. Saturday morning police dispatchers got a report of people "doing drugs in a car" at East 4th Avenue and State Street in Muldoon, said Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Dani Myren.

A dispatcher ran the car's license plate and discovered the blue Nissan pickup truck was stolen, she said.

When officers arrived they positioned their police cars to block the suspect's vehicle.

The suspects drove the stolen truck toward a patrol car, ramming it and then crashing through a fence, Myren said.

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They then allegedly drove east on 4th Street, cutting across a playground at Standish Park and coming to a stop on Standish Street.

The driver, identified by police as Ryan Robert Portlock, 26, ran but was apprehended a few blocks away on Cherry Street.

Portlock faces charges including first degree vehicle theft, unlawful possession and third degree criminal mischief.

The other two passengers, identified as Cory Michael Wolf, 26, and Amber Jobell Myers, 29, were also arrested and charged with criminal mischief in the fifth degree.

It's not yet clear at what point in the incident officers fired on the car, Myren said.

Myren said that the state's Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals will investigate the incident, as they do any time a police officer fires a weapon on the job.

The names of the officers involved will not be released for three days in accordance with APD policy, Myren said.

Reach Michelle Theriault Boots at mtheriault@adn.com or 257-4344.

By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS

mtheriault@adn.com

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers on the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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