Alaska News

Anchorage man arrested in Salcha on slew of charges

An Anchorage man was arrested in Salcha on Saturday after Alaska State Troopers say he broke into a state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities truck in an attempt to steal fuel, then burglarized an occupied house.

The incident started when troopers got a report of a "possibly intoxicated driver" leaving the Salcha store at 9:39 a.m., troopers wrote in an online dispatch posted Sunday.

About an hour later, a worker at the Birch Lake DOT station reported that a work truck had been vandalized and fuel taken.

Then, at 11:23 a.m., a third call came in reporting a "burglary in progress" at a home near mile post 330 of the Richardson Highway.

Troopers said an investigation revealed that David Gatzke, 44, had "busted a window out of a DOT work truck in an attempt to get fuel."

When that didn't work Gatzke allegedly broke into an occupied house, "stealing miscellaneous items."

Gatzke was later arrested on charges including burglary, theft, criminal mischief, driving without a license and criminal trespass.

Michelle Theriault Boots

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

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