Anchorage police report that a prolonged incident on Tuesday night resulted in charges that included weapons and DUI.

At 8:48 pm on Tuesday night, APD dispatch was alerted of a driver in a black Chevy, speeding, cutting off other traffic, and almost colliding with another vehicle on East 4th and Boniface.

One minute later, dispatch fielded another call reporting a man standing in the street brandishing a firearm while drinking a beer on the 5900-block of 6th Avenue. During that time he was circling a black 1986 Chevy pickup.

Ten minutes later, at 9:01 pm, a Community Action Policing Team vehicle reported that while at 4th and Newell Street, the suspect driver, later identified as 35-year-old Edward R. Aragon, drove straight toward his vehicle causing him to veer into a nearby parking lot to avoid a head-on collision. After that incident, Aragon sped off running a stoplight at 4th and Boniface.

Other officers reported seeing the vehicle driving at high rates of speed in several different locations, but because they determined that they could not safely engage him, they continued to listen to updates via radio and worked to get in front of him.

Meanwhile, Aragon drove westbound on Northern Lights Boulevard just to the west of UAA Drive. He encountered two vehicles traveling the same direction in front of him and he passed between the two, striking a black Ford as he did so.

As Aragon got close to the Northern Lights/Glenwood intersection, he ran over a spike strip deployed to stop him. Despite having two of his tired flattened by the strips, Aragon continued to drive.

At 9:06 pm, officers finally successfully blocked Aragon in next to Planet Fitness at 670 East Northern Lights. After being stopped, Aragon lit a cigarette and finished off his bottle of alcohol before exiting the vehicle. He was verbally non-compliant but was taken into custody without further incident.

While showing signs of impairment, Aragon refused to participate in Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. Because he was being combative, officers did not attempt a breathalyzer sample but arrested him on DUI charges.

Ultimately, Aragon was remanded to the Anchorage Correctional Facility on charges of Leaving the Scene of a Crash, Driving w/out Proof of Insurance, Assault III, Reckless Driving, DUI, Misconduct Involving a Weapon IV, Fail to Stop, and Driving on a Revoked License.

While a handgun and alcohol were observed in plain view, a search warrant was requested and obtained for the vehicle which was impounded as evidence.

  Alaska, alcohol, Anchorage, aragon, arrest, chase, collision, dui, edward, handgun, northern lights, planet fitness, reckless, spike strips, weapons