Alaska State Troopers with the assistance of K-9 “Helo,” took down an Anchorage man who was wanted on warrants for parole/probation violations on the original charges of Homicide and Murder II on Saturday night according to trooper dispatch.

At 9:59 pm on Saturday night, Alaska State Troopers conducted a traffic stop on a 2000 Chevy Cavalier for equipment violations at the Parks Highway and Frontage Road. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as 37-year-old Thomas Halton, gave the trooper a false name during the stop and then decided to drive off during the stop. The trooper attempted to  pull the driver from the vehicle at that time with no luck.

The drive-off initiated a pursuit north-bound on the Parks Highway.

At the intersection of the Parks Highway and Crusey Street, Halton failed to yield and collided with a 2004 Toyota Camry, injuring the driver. Halton fled on foot from the scene.

K-9 “Helo” was brought in to track down the fleeing suspect and Halton was subsequently apprehended.

The driver of the Camry was transported to the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center by ambulance for treatment of minor injuries.

Halton, who was wanted on several warrants for Probation/Parole violations on original charges of Homicide, Murder II, and Evidence Tampering, was additionally charged with Failure to Stop at the Direction of a Police Officer x2, Reckless Driving, Resisting Arrest, False Information, Assault III and Reckless Endangerment.

Halton was transported to the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility where he was remanded to await arraignment.

At age eighteen, Halton was originally  convicted for Murder II after he and two of his friends donned ski masks, and Halton armed himself, and hunted down Terrence Rogers in a Mountain View neighborhood on August 11, 1995. Rogers had earlier gotten into a fight with one of Halton’s friends and had been Halton’s antagonist for over a year according to court testimony at that time.

After locating Rogers, Halton exited the vehicle as Rogers pulled his own weapon. Rogers fired at Halton and missed, Halton fired back. From that point, it turned into a foot-chase with Halton chasing Rogers. Rogers attempted to fire at Halton again, but his weapon jammed, Halton continued to fire at Rogers and hit him in the groin. Rogers continued to attempt to fire at Halton, but his weapon was still jammed.

Halton caught up to the injured Rogers and threw him to the ground. Standing over Rogers, Halton fired one more shot into Rogers chest. Rogers would die a short time later at an Anchorage Hospital. Halton had fired a total of seven rounds at Rogers during the gunfight, hitting him three times.

Halton was convicted in a jury trial and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

At arraignment on Sunday, Halton was appointed a public defender and his bail was set at $50,000. His next court date is set for February 18th.

  collision, foot chase, homicide, murder, pursuit, thomas halton