State will not file charges against former APD officer accused of drunken driving

State prosecutors said this week that they will not file charges against a former Anchorage police officer who was arrested on suspicion of driving a patrol car drunk while off duty in December.

Ethan Copeland, 24, left the Anchorage Police Department in January, after the incident came to light in media reports. The police department did not notify the public about the allegations, but officials have since said they plan to do so in the future when any officer is arrested or charged with a crime.

Copeland listed a home address on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson at the time of his arrest.

JBER security forces received a driving complaint about Copeland around 7 p.m. Dec. 9, a police spokeswoman has said. He was invited to a holiday party on base and arrived intoxicated, a JBER spokeswoman said. Copeland had been driving a patrol car equipped with emergency lights and sirens but no obvious police graphic on it, according to the police department.

Base security did not conduct field sobriety tests on Copeland, but noted he was “visibly intoxicated” when they contacted him after he arrived at the party, the base spokeswoman said. He was detained until traffic officers from the police department arrived to take over the investigation, she said.

Investigators from the police department forwarded charges of operating under the influence and possession of a firearm while drunk to the municipality’s legal department, a police spokeswoman said.

The case was then transferred from municipal attorneys to the state Office of Special Prosecutions, which handles cases that could otherwise pose a conflict of interest for state or municipal prosecutors. This case was referred to the office because it involved an Anchorage police officer.

At Copeland’s first Anchorage District Court appearance Tuesday, an attorney with the state said the office has decided to not pursue charges.

“We reviewed all the evidence collected in the case and we determined we could not prove all the required elements of each offense beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. If we can’t do that we have to refuse charges,” Assistant Attorney General Ron Dupuis said in an email Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Law on Wednesday said no additional specifics were available.

The police department’s internal affairs unit began an investigation to determine if Copeland violated department policy, but the investigation was closed because he is no longer employed by the department, police spokeswoman Renee Oistad said by email Wednesday.

Copeland remains a part-time member of the Alaska Army National Guard, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, although he was administratively flagged and ineligible for “favorable personnel actions like promotions, awards or military school participation,” spokesman Alan Brown said Wednesday. Leadership will consider evidence as they determine whether or not to take administrative action, Brown said.

Police also did not notify the public when two other off-duty Anchorage police officers were arrested on similar charges in separate incidents in 2022 and 2023. One has since pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence. Court proceedings are ongoing for the other.