APD patrol officers took a belligerent Anchorage man into custody on a number of charges including vehicle theft and DUI after responding to a call on Hillcrest early Wednesday morning.

Officers responded to the 1400-block of Hillcrest at 3:47 am on Wednesday and upon their arrival observed a man later identified as 24-year-old Curtis J. Iyapana with balled up fists yelling and advancing on another of several people standing around a front-end loader tipped over on its side.

Several witnesses pointed out Iyapana as the person driving and tipping over the piece of heavy equipment.

Iyapana refused to talk to the officers but acted aggressively to them. He continued to display that aggressiveness and resisted as the officers cuffed him and placed him in a patrol vehicle. They also observed signs of impairment.

After placing Iyapana into the vehicle, they went to talk to witnesses and as they were walking away, heard a loud thump coming from their vehicle and turned to see that the suspect had slipped his cuffs and was attempting to escape the patrol vehicle.

The officers returned to the vehicle and re-cuffed Iyapana and replaced him into the vehicle only to have him begin banging his head against the window. The officers requested a supervisor and a sergeant responded to the scene.

Iyapana was patted down and a bag of marijuana was found on his person.

The investigation would find that Iyapana was the subject of an outstanding warrant and was transported to the police department. At the department, the suspect refused to participate in sobriety tests and breathalyzer so a warrant was obtained for a blood draw.

During processing, Iyapana attempted to spit on the officers so a spit hood was placed on his head.

The initial investigation would find that Iyapana had gone to a construction site on 4th Avenue and D Street and vandalized property including a dump truck causing damage valued at several thousand dollars. He then stole the front-end loader and drove it to the Hillcrest location before flipping it on its side.

Iyapana was jailed on the outstanding warrant as well as additional charges of Vehicle Theft I, Criminal Mischief III, Driving Under the Influence, Theft I, Resisting, and Refusal and remanded to the Anchorage jail.

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