A 49-year-old man told Alaska State Troopers that he abducted and sexually assaulted a teenage girl before trying to kill her on Wednesday near Wasilla, according to court documents filed Friday.
The girl told investigators she managed to free herself by chewing through restraints on her wrists and then flagged down help on a road about 10 miles from her home.
David Wayne Anderson was arrested Thursday and faces charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor, robbery, assault, misconduct involving a controlled substance and tampering with evidence.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/KD7RBPC2YNBVLMO2JPQNR4OGMA.jpg)
Anderson, who is a registered sex offender, told investigators during an interview that he had “let the monster out,” according to an affidavit written by troopers Sgt. Todd Moehring.
The girl was walking home from her bus stop off Wasilla-Fishhook Road around 3 p.m. Wednesday when, Anderson told troopers, he pointed a pistol at her and abducted her, the affidavit said. She did not know Anderson, who was driving a dark blue Chevrolet El Camino.
Anderson told investigators that inside the vehicle, he hit the girl in the head, Moehring wrote. She told troopers he also asked her to smoke from a meth pipe, put a blanket over her head and duct-taped her wrists together, the affidavit said.
Anderson drove to a remote area, where he sexually assaulted the girl, the affidavit said.
He told troopers he took the girl’s cellphone and Nintendo Switch and then shot at her while she was on the ground, Moehring wrote.
Anderson said he thought he had killed the girl, according to the affidavit, so he left the area and discarded the pistol and the electronics.
The girl, who was described as having a swollen eye, said Anderson fired into the air three times, the document said. She told troopers she chewed through the duct tape wrapped five times around her wrists to free her hand.
She flagged down a driver for help around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday near the Little Susitna River in the area of Schrock Road, about 10 miles from where she was abducted. The driver called 911 and took the girl to her home. Troopers interviewed the girl and she received care at a medical facility.
The girl described Anderson as about 50 years old and wearing a black leather vest and cowboy hat, Moehring wrote. Troopers looked at surveillance video from the neighborhood and spoke with one woman who recalled seeing the El Camino in the area shortly before the abduction. As part of their investigation, troopers contacted a man who identified Anderson as a possible suspect.
Troopers conducted a traffic stop on Anderson around 6:35 p.m. Thursday near Wasilla. He was wearing a black leather vest and a cowboy hat, according to the affidavit.
Troopers searched his home and he was arrested after an interview.
Anderson’s prior convictions include first-degree sexual assault, failure to register as a sex offender, theft and burglary.
Troopers on Thursday asked anyone with surveillance video in the area to contact them, but they did not release a description of Anderson. Spokesman Austin McDaniel said they did not have an “actionable description, name, or other necessary information” until late that day, when law enforcement contacted Anderson.
The investigation is ongoing, and troopers said there may be additional charges. Anderson was next scheduled to appear in court on Saturday.