A man who led Alaska State Troopers on a brief chase in a stolen vehicle Tuesday remains at large after troopers looking for him evacuated a small apartment building in Fairbanks for five hours.
On Wednesday evening, troopers identified the suspect as Ryan Portlock of Anchorage.
The incident began at about 11 a.m. with a report that the vehicle was parked outside a residence on Dolly Varden Lane. Responding troopers soon found the vehicle, which had been stolen Monday night from an area patrolled by the Fairbanks Police Department.
"As troopers attempted to contact the vehicle, a male driver drove away in the vehicle," troopers wrote. "Troopers pursued the vehicle for a short distance until the suspect driver lost control of the car and went into the ditch. The driver then fled on foot to the area of the residence where initial contact was made."
At that point, troopers called in Fairbanks-based members of their Special Emergency Reaction Team and obtained a search warrant for the structure.
"Patrol troopers and SERT evacuated the residence, which was a five-plex," troopers wrote. "SERT then attempted to communicate with potential occupants without success. SERT eventually entered the building and searched for the suspect. The suspect was not inside the building. Several residents were displaced for approximately 5 hours while AST resolved this incident."
Fairbanks police Lt. Dan Welborn said no suspect in the case was in custody early Wednesday. He said the vehicle theft began with a pair of calls at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
"We had a report earlier that came in as a (Report Every Dangerous Driver Immediately) report -- that vehicle eluded officers near Farmers Loop Road extension," Welborn said.
The vehicle involved in that call was ditched, but the suspect took another one shortly afterward on Harold Bentley Avenue.
"That person fled to a Holiday gas station where they stole a vehicle," Welborn said.
Officers briefly pursued the driver on the Johansen Expressway, Welborn said, but subsequently had to abandon the chase due to icy roads.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Portlock is being urged to call troopers at 907-451-5100.
Portlock already has open arrest warrant for felony probation violations related to previous first-degree theft and failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer convictions, troopers said.
Both troopers and Fairbanks police are continuing to conduct a joint investigation.