ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Eagle River woman was arrested Wednesday on sexual-assault and coercion charges after she allegedly tried to blackmail an Air Force airman over sexual acts committed without his consent.
According to APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker, 40-year-old Lagina Griffiths met the airman at a Downtown bar -- identified by investigators as Rumrunner’s Old Towne Bar and Grill -- Friday night.
“She took the airman home with her where she engaged in sexual acts with him while he was unaware and without his consent,” Parker wrote in a Thursday statement on the case.
Investigators say the married airman told police he fell asleep on Griffiths' couch, then woke up to find her performing oral sex on him, an act which became the subject of a blackmail plot.
“On Sunday, Griffiths contacted the airman and made coercive threats to him regarding the sexual encounter,” Parker wrote.
Although the airman met with Griffiths to discuss her demands, a meeting at which Parker says “further threats were made,” he subsequently informed the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations about the matter on Tuesday. Parker says the airman's name is not being released because he is the victim of a sexual assault.
OSI turned the case over to APD’s Special Victims Unit, whose lead investigator Brett Sarber was able to establish probable cause that Griffiths had committed the offenses through search warrants and interviews.
An arrest warrant was issued for Griffiths, and APD patrol officers took her into custody at her home on charges of first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and coercion.
Griffiths is being held without bail at the Anchorage Jail. She is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.
This is a developing story. Please check KTUU.com and the Channel 2 newscasts for updates.
Channel 2’s Blake Essig contributed to this report.
