An Anchorage resident accused of stealing a car was arrested in Nikiski on Friday after Alaska State Troopers say he rammed one of their vehicles and fled 2 miles.
According to an affidavit by Trooper Adam Flowers, included with charging documents, he and another trooper responded to a residential address in Nikiski around 11:30 a.m. after being notified by Sirius XM that a stolen vehicle — a purple 2021 Dodge Charger — was there.
Upon arriving, Flowers writes that the car as described could be seen running in the driveway, with someone inside. He used the loudspeaker to command the driver, but they began to reverse the vehicle out of the driveway.
The driver of the Charger, the affidavit says, became stuck in a ditch briefly while trying to outmaneuver the two patrol vehicles, but got unstuck and backed into Flowers’ car.
“Upon impact I struck my head on the visor,” Flowers wrote.
Flowers and the other trooper began to pursue the stolen vehicle, the affidavit says. They followed for around 2 miles before the driver stopped “after the 90 degree turn on South Miller Loop.” The driver, found to be Brendon Valdez, a 32-year-old Anchorage resident, matched the identity of the suspect Anchorage Police had identified for the stolen vehicle.
The affidavit says that troopers found “approximately 22 grams” of a substance resembling heroin in Valdez’s chest pocket, as well as “an AR style rifle” and a handgun in the car.
Valdez told the drug unit, according to the affidavit, that he had brought “a substantial amount of fentanyl and heroin for distribution” from Anchorage. He also said he had sold methamphetamine to a Nikiski resident.
Valdez is charged with felony failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, third-degree assault, second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, second- and third-degree misconduct involving weapons and a misdemeanor for duty of operator to give information and render assistance.
Valdez is also facing a charge in a separate incident of alleged theft of a 1999 Chevy Tahoe from Kenai in early October. According to an affidavit by Kenai Police Officer Trevor Miller in charging documents associated with that case, Valdez stole the car and told its owner that he had it with him in Anchorage. The vehicle had not been recovered.
Valdez was indicted by a Kenai grand jury on Nov. 8 for first-degree vehicle theft. He was scheduled to be arraigned for that charge and for the new charges from his arrest this week on Saturday and on Monday, but both hearings were listed as reset because the defendant failed to appear.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
