Anchorage police seek ‘person of interest’ in fatal January assault

Update, 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 16:

Johnny Johnson was arrested early Wednesday after he tried to flee from police, authorities said. Johnson is considered a man “of interest” in connection with the fatal January assault of Alan Wagers.

Police saw Johnson near West 27th Avenue and Spenard Road around 12:39 a.m. Wednesday and recognized his Chevy Silverado as a vehicle that had eluded them several nights earlier, the department wrote in a statement.

Officers tried to block Johnson’s truck in, but he reversed, struck a patrol vehicle and continued driving in reverse until his truck centered on a snowbank, police said. Johnson fled on foot and was arrested on an outstanding assault warrant and is facing new charges of eluding, criminal mischief and third-degree assault, according to the statement.

No charges have been filed related to Wagers’ death.

Original story:

Anchorage police are seeking a man “of interest” in connection with a fatal assault in a Rogers Park home in January.

Officers were called to a home on the 2600 block of Cottonwood Street just after 5 p.m. Jan. 18 on a report of an assault. Alan Wagers, 69, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after the attack, police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said.

He remained hospitalized until he died from his injuries on Feb. 27, according to police.

Authorities have identified 38-year-old Johnny B.L. Johnson as a “person of interest” in the death, which police said Thursday is being investigated as a homicide.

Police would not answer questions about how Wagers was assaulted, whether he and Johnson were acquainted or how Johnson was identified as a person of interest. The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed, Oistad said.

Police described Johnson as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 215 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. The police department asked anyone with information about Johnson’s whereabouts to call dispatch at 311.

Wagers is the fourth person to have died by homicide in Anchorage so far this year. Police did not release information about the assault turned homicide investigation until Thursday, nearly two weeks after Wagers died.

“It was an error on our part not alerting the public,” Oistad said by email.