Soldotna Police arrested a Fairbanks man after law enforcement allege he broke into a residence, assaulted three people, resisted arrest and tried to start a fire with a lighter while in Central Peninsula Hospital after being Tasered Tuesday evening.
Jacob A. Brown, 31, is charged with first-degree arson and burglary, felony driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, driving while license revoked, failure to give immediate notice of an accident, three counts of assault in the fourth degree and resisting arrest. He was taken to Wildwood Pretrial Facility and is being held without bail.
Police allege Brown had driven to a residence on Yupik Road and forced his way into the home, where he assaulted the homeowner and two females. The homeowner was forced to strike Brown twice with a baseball bat to end the assault and make Brown leave the residence, according to the report.
He fled the scene driving a red pickup when police received a 911 call about the disturbance at the residence on Yupik Road at 9:52 p.m. As Sgts. Duane Kant and Stace Escott were responding, they encountered the truck on Mount Redoubt Avenue, where they attempted to make a traffic stop, according to the police report.
The driver failed to stop and led police on a brief chase from the Sterling Highway onto the Kenai Spur Highway to the Frontage Road and onto Soldotna Avenue where the driver stopped at the Beluga Avenue intersection, according to the report.
Brown exited the pickup and began to fight with officers. Police used a Taser to take the man into custody. According to the report, Brown was “highly intoxicated.” Paramedics from Central Emergency Services took him to the emergency room at CPH for injuries he sustained.
While in the emergency room, Brown used a cigarette lighter to set a blanket on fire, according to police. The fire was extinguished and no damage was reported.
Police first received word that a red pickup had backed into a Dumpster, forcing it through a wooden barricade at an apartment complex on Sohi Lane at 9:45 p.m. The driver fled from the scene and police came in contact with the truck on Mount Redoubt Avenue several minutes later after a 911 call reported the incident on Yupik Road.
Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarik said he did not have any details about why Brown was in the area or why he broke into the residence. The case is under investigation.
Brown will be arraigned in Kenai District Court Thursday at 10 a.m. for the four felony charges and six misdemeanors.
Reach Dan Balmer at daniel.balmer@peninsulaclarion.com
