Alaska State Troopers arrested a 19-year-old Kasilof man on July 30 following a report of a burglary in progress at a Ninilchik charter office. The charter owners at 3:30 a.m. told troopers they caught a masked man breaking into the office and trying to take money from a cash drawer. The man dropped the money and fled on foot. Troopers found a Chevrolet Camaro at the scene with the driver's side door open and the engine still warm, and footprint impressions on the ground and on the door of the building, where a suspect kicked the door.
Following further investigation, troopers located a suspect at a Kasilof home. Troopers allege the suspect admitted breaking into the store to get money for car payments and that he threw away a punch used to break in. They arrested Maxwell Walton for second-degree burglary and tampering with physical evidence, both felonies, third-degree criminal mischief and third-degree theft.
Troopers arrested Kartik Kniaziowski, 27, for first-degree vehicle theft, a felony, and making a false report after stopping a 21-year-old man for speeding in a Saturn L300 near Mile 146 Sterling Highway. Troopers allege the Saturn did not have a license plate or temporary tag, vehicle registration, proof of purchase or insurance. The driver said the vehicle was not his. Also in the car were an 18-year-old woman, a 21-year-old woman, and Kniaziowski. When asked who owned the car, Kniaziowski said his aunt owned it. A records check showed the car was stolen from Anchorage on July 26.
Troopers allege the driver said Kniaziowski picked him and the 21-year-old woman up while they were hitchhiking in Sterling. He told troopers a story involving Kniaziowski, a hitchhiker in Willow and a Willow friend named John, and said Kniaziowski claimed John let him use the car.
Kniaziowski claimed he did not steal the vehicle and told troopers his first name was "Teek." The 18-year-old woman said she saw Kniaziowski driving the Saturn in Anchorage.
Troopers could not locate a Teek Kniaziowski in state records, and Kniaziowski then told him his first name was Kartik. Troopers found a $2,500 arrest warrant from the Anchorage troopers under that name.
A Homer man on Monday afternoon told police an unidentified man was sitting in his Ford Crown Victoria parked at the end of Fish Dock Road near the man's place of employment. When the man asked the suspect to leave the vehicle, he refused. Police arrested Duane Jennings, 40, for second-degree criminal trespass. Police allege Jennings told them he thought the vehicle was abandoned.
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