A 22-year-old Soldotna man was arrested Saturdayafter a high-speed pursuit through Soldotna, police said Tuesday.
Aldon Burns is charged with failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer, fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest, a press release from the Soldotna Police Department says.
An affidavit included in charging documents says that Kenai Police were the first to respond to reports of a white SUV “driving erratically,” speeding and passing on the right side of vehicles. The car was reported to be traveling toward Soldotna on the Kenai Spur Highway.
Unable to find the vehicle, Kenai police forwarded the report to Soldotna police, who found it in the parking lot of Fat Tops, a marijuana shop along the Kenai Spur Highway near Mattress Ranch and the All American Training Center. The vehicle was unoccupied then, but Burns came out of the shop and entered the vehicle, the affidavit says.
Burns was pulled over by police in the parking lot of the Mattress Ranch, directly adjacent to Fat Tops, where the affidavit says he got out of the vehicle and charged toward the officer. He then returned to his vehicle and fled from the parking lot, weaving through traffic at speeds “in excess of 90 mph,” turning right onto the Sterling Highway and proceeding through Soldotna.
Near the intersection of South Kobuk Street and the Sterling Highway, the affidavit says Burns slammed on his brakes and caused a pursuing Alaska State Trooper vehicle to collide with his rear end, disabling the trooper vehicle. Burns turned down Kalifornsky Beach Road, striking another trooper vehicle in front of Centennial Park Road near the trooper post facility.
The affidavit says Burns vehicle was finally boxed in against a guardrail on Kalifornsky Beach Road directly in front of Gas Well Road, where he continued to resist the attempts of responding officers and troopers to arrest him until he was ultimately brought down with a taser and handcuffed. The assault charge stems from an injury the affidavit says was inflicted to one of the responding troopers, who reportedly had his shoulder dislocated.
Burns was arraigned on March 2, where he submitted a plea of not guilty and was appointed a public defender. Bail was set at $5,000, with a court-approved third-party custodian required.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
