The Anchorage Police Department state that after being alerted to a reckless driver and a brief search for the offending vehicle, its driver was arrested on felony DUI on Tuesday night.

Police received the reckless driver report at 9:36 pm on Tuesday night. The caller supplied police with a description of the vehicle and its last known direction of travel. Patrol officers responded to the 5800-block area of Jennifer Circle and took up a search of the surrounding area.

An officer soon found the suspect vehicle pulling into Jennifer Circle from Defiance Street. The vehicle i9legally parked in the middle of the cul-de-sac and the driver got out. The patrol vehicle pulled in behind of the vehicle and the officer made contact and spoke to the driver.

The officer, during the conversation, noticed signs of intoxication and requested identification. The information the driver gave would prove false.

After Standardized Field Sobriety Tests were performed, the officers made the decision to arrest the suspect with DUI. During the arrest, the suspect resisted and was taken to the ground. Once cuffed, the suspect became compliant and was checked out by medics for abrasions incurred during the scuffle. Once cleared, the suspect, 55-year-old Iliodor E. Merculieff JR, gave APD his true identity.

A computer check was made and it was found that Merculieff had previously been convicted of felony DUI, and because of multiple DUIs in the past 10 years, he was once again charged with felony DUI. It was also found that Merculieff was on conditions of release in a different case.

In addition to the DUI and conditions of release violation, he was also charged with two counts of Assault IV, Resisting Arrest, False Information, and Driving with a Revoked License. He was transported to the Anchorage Jail and remanded there.

  assault, dui, false info, felony, iliodor merculieff, resisting