A response call for a report of a severely erratic driver at mile 66.5 of the Seward Highway on Saturday morning led to the arrest of an Anchorage man for two counts of Vehicle Theft as well as other charges, APD reported.

At 4:38 am on Saturday morning, a woman driving on the highway called APD to report that she had almost been hit by a pickup truck driving backward on the Seward Highway. She reported that the vehicle then shifted back into forward gear, continued driving on the highway, straddling the center line in the path of oncoming traffic then suddenly came to a stop on the highway.

A responding officer traveling to the scene would be passed by the speeding suspect traveling northbound and turned around to give chase. Despite the suspect driving in excess of 100 miles per hour, the officer was able to catch up. The officer turned on his overheads near the Rabbit Creek exit, which the suspect ignored.

Lack of significant traffic and good road conditions allowed the officer to continue the chase, following the vehicle as it ran two red lights. The suspect Chevy pickup pulled into the Subway Sports Center parking lot and the officer soon lost sight of it.

More patrol vehicles responded to the location and soon found the vehicle abandoned behind the complex still running and in gear. Officers heard someone crashing through the brush in the woods nearby and a perimeter was set up. A K-9 unit responded to the scene and orders to give up were given and ignored before release of the K-9.

The K-9 soon caught up to the suspect, later identified as 37-year-old James R Farner, and latched on to his foot. It was only then that Farner gave up and was arrested.

A check of the vehicle would find that it only had a rear license plate. As the investigation continued, officers would find that the pickup, a 2006 Chevy had been reported stolen the prior afternoon from a gated business lot on the 1200-block of East 80th Avenue. The vehicle had been unlocked with the keys inside at the time it was stolen. It was also reported that the vehicle had both plates at the time of the theft.

APD requested and was granted permission by the vehicle’s owner to search the pickup. When searched officers would find “several items to include ID(s) belonging to other people and marijuana pipes,” APD reported.

Following up on the stolen IDs, police contacted one of the owners. That person told APD that his white Chevy Silverado pickup had been stolen but later recovered a few days earlier4. The owner told him when he got his truck back, he discovered an ID belonging to Farner in the truck.

Farner was treated for his dog bite injury then remanded to the Anchorage Jail on charges of Resisting Arrest, two counts of Vehicle Theft I, and two counts of Theft II.

That afternoon, Soldotna-based troopers contacted APD to report that they had recovered the license plates to the to the pickup stolen from East 80th.

According to online court documents, Farner’s bail was set at $250. Vinelink shows that he is no longer in custody.

  Anchorage, james farner, resisting, soldotna, vehicle theft