The Yakutat Police Department and Alaska Wildlife Troopers stationed in Yakutat responded to a 911 call on Saturday that reported that a a suburban in the middle of the road with one of the windows broken out. The caller also reported that there was also a pool of blood and a discarded shirt at the scene.

Tropopers went to the scene at mile 4 of Airport Road in Yakutat and investigated the scene and also processed the vehicle for evidence.

The officers conducted a series of interviews in the area and through those interviews, were able to locate and identify 25-year-old Anchorage resident Joshua Nicolai.

One witness told investigators that he woke to find a man he didn’t know trying to warm up food in his microwave at about 4 am. The witness said that he forced the man out of his house. The witness was later able to identify Nicolai during a photo line-up.

Nicolai went from that residence to a location a short distance away and stole a blue Chevy Suburban. It is reported that Nicolai took the vehicle off-road where it was damaged then abandoned. It was that vehicle that was initially reported abandoned on Airport Road.

Troopers and Yakutat police went to a residence where they knew Nicolai was staying.

When they arrived, they placed Nicolai under arrest, charging him with Vehicle Theft I, Burglary I, Criminal Mischief III, Reckless Driving, Theft IV, and violating Conditions of Release. He was transported and remanded to the Yakutat Jail before being further transported to Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau.

Nicolai had a court case pending in Anchorage for Assault, Destruction of Property, Destruction of Communication equipment and resisting Arrest.