Two men, including one linked to a wave of vehicle thefts across Anchorage this year, are being sought by Anchorage police after they fled a local halfway house last weekend.
Police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said Monday that the men -- Tagaloa Tanuvasa, 42, and Filipo Rhode, 37 -- walked away from the Cordova Center, at Cordova Street and East Second Avenue, at about 11 p.m. Saturday. They are being sought on felony arrest warrants for second-degree escape.
The association between Tanuvasa and Rhode is unknown.
"Both men had been remanded on multiple misdemeanor and felony offenses," Oistad wrote in a statement. "Tanuvasa is part of a criminal ring responsible for several vehicle thefts and burglaries."
These are the men's most recent criminal cases, according to court records:
Tanuvasa was charged with vehicle theft and second-degree theft on April 29, the same day the crimes were allegedly committed, the records say. Both of the charges are class C felonies.
Rhode was arrested in January on charges of burglary, three counts of second-degree theft and vehicle theft, all of which are class B and C felonies.
Twenty people associated with the criminal ring have already been arrested, said Capt. Bill Miller of the Anchorage Police Department. They have been tied to about 60 to 80 crimes that run the gamut from burglary to assault. Others have been charged for helping facilitate thefts by aiding suspects after the fact, Miller said.
"We started putting together the pieces about six to eight weeks ago," he said of the investigation.
David Fatialofa, 35, who police say fired on an Alaska State Trooper during a chase across the city on Police Memorial Day on Friday is also associated with the ring, Miller said.
Oistad said that Tanuvasa was linked to a rapid escalation in vehicle thefts and property crimes that has seen more than 550 vehicles reported stolen in Anchorage as of late April. Although more than 85 percent of those vehicles have been recovered, with more than 70 arrests made on vehicle-theft charges, police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said at that time that "there's still a lot of work to do."
Miller shared that sentiment when asked if police had managed to stop the criminal ring to which Tanuvasa allegedly belongs.
"This is not the end of the road by any stretch of the imagination," he said.
The decision to place Tanuvasa in a halfway house, rather than jail, was made by the state Department of Corrections, Miller said, adding he couldn't quantify how often felons are similarly placed.
"We've had conversations with DOC about escapees from halfway houses," Miller said. "It's been a concern for us, and obviously in this case it's a concern and frustrating that we put all this work and time into rounding this guy up and then he's put in a halfway house where he can walk away."
Individuals charged with class B or C felonies are allowed to stay at community residential centers, commonly called halfway houses, said corrections spokesperson Corey Allen-Young. A system of criteria including current charges and criminal histories are used in determining risk, he said.
"They were both considered minimal risk," Allen-Young said.
There are 350 individuals living in halfway houses; 125 of them have not yet been sentenced, he said.
Police ask anyone with information on Tanuvasa or Rhode's whereabouts to contact the department at 907-786-8900, or Crime Stoppers at either 561-STOP or via its website.