The search for 30-year-old Gary Kelso, who escaped from the Cordova Center, a halfway house in Anchorage, on December 4, came to a close on December 10 after Anchorage police responded to a call reporting vehicle prowler’s on the 7000 block of Stella Place at 10:17 AM on Sunday.

The caller reported to police that he had found a man and a woman asleep in his pickup truck. He also noticed, during that initial encounter with the two people, that the ignition in his pickup had been tampered with. The complainant told officers that he woke the two up verbally. When awakened, Kelso took a hammer from the vehicle and approached the victim. In response, the complainant, in fear for his well-being, fled towards his home. Meanwhile, Kelso fled the scene with his cohort, later identified as 21-year-old Shelby Stitt.

As police were responding to the area, they observed Kelso and Stitt walking across Lake Otis near 68th Ave. when the two suspects noticed the patrol car, they began walking faster, and which time the officer activated his patrol car’s lights. The officer exited his vehicle, and in a loud voice, announced himself. Instead of stopping, the duo began running through the backyard of a residence in the 5300 block of Laurel Place, hopping fences through several yards, until the officer again located them on the 2700 block of Meadow View Drive.

In the meantime a second officer arrived at the scene, and they continued to announce themselves to the fleeing suspects. Gary and Shelby continued to ignore the officer’s orders and continued to run away. Giving chase, the officers caught up with Gary and Shelby in the front yard of a residence on the 6100 block of Spruce Meadows Drive.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]Police took both in the custody, and transported them to the Anchorage jail. Kelso was charged with “Assault III, Resisting Arrest, and Vehicle Tampering.  He was also jailed on his outstanding warrant for Escape which was issued after he left a halfway house on December 4th,” APD reported.

Stitt was charged with vehicle tampering and resisting arrest.

  cordova house, escape, fleeing, gary kelso, resisting, search, shelby stitt, vehicle tampering, warrant