Anchorage police say that a man is in custody on various charges that included weapons misconduct after a Thursday afternoon incident in an Eagle River Walmart parking lot.

The APD officer said that he observed a blue 1996 Ford Ranger speed around the corner in the lot and head recklessly at him at 4:42 pm. The action spurred the officer to yell at the driver to slow down. At the same time, the officer identified himself as a police officer and flashed his badge.

In response, the driver, who was later identified as 23-year-old William C Carr III, stopped his vehicle, jumped out and engaged the officer. Carr told the officer he had no authority as he was off-duty. During the exchange, Carr pulled a handgun out of his pocket, resulting in the officer reaching for his weapon as he was in fear of personal injury.

Carr put the weapon back into his pocket, jumped into his Ford, and sped away, police reported. But, he didn’t get far until he hit a yellow sign that had a concrete base. He suffered significant front-end damage and his airbag deployed. In addition, the truck’s front license plate was knocked off in the impact and Carr left it behind when he put his vehicle in reverse and sped off.

Several other officers responded to the scene and a 5:15 pm, an officer observed a tan truck towing a blue Ford Ranger with front-end damage at South Birchwood Loop and Birchtree Street. The office maneuvered behind the vehicles and confirmed that the rear plate matched the plate left at the initial scene. After doing so, the officer conducted a traffic stop on both vehicles. He ordered both the driver of the tan pickup and Carr, who was in the blue Ford, to put their hands out their windows. As the officer was waiting for backup to arrive, Carr became “very verbally confrontational with the officer,” according to the report.

The entire time, Carr did not inform the officer that he was armed and it wasn’t until he was being cuffed by officers after they arrived at the scene that they were informed of Carr’s status.

Once Carr was cuffed, he began to physically struggle. But, officers were able to control Carr long enough to pat him down. When Carr’s weapon was examined, it was found to be loaded with a live round in the chamber.

“The driver of the tan truck was not charged.  It appears that driver agreed to tow Carr’s vehicle to Carr’s residence after seeing the Ford broken down on the side of the road,” APD stated.

Carr was transported to the Anchorage Correctional Center and remanded on charges of Assault III, Misconduct Involving a Weapon V, Leave the Scene of an Accident, and Resisting.

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