Assault

Anchorage police say a woman was sexually assaulted in her home at knifepoint early Friday morning. At about 12:30 a.m., an unknown man entered the woman's home on the 3500 block of McKenzie Drive. The victim couldn't get a clear description of the suspect, but believes he may have been a light-skinned black male. The suspect fled the scene on foot following the attack. The victim believes that her door may have been left unlocked, inadvertently allowing the suspect to gain entry into her home.

Anchorage police arrested the man accused of assaulting a 7-year-old girl in Midtown last weekend. Police say 32-year-old Byron Edward Syvinski was taken to a local hospital following the attack and had been hospitalized until Thursday. He was taken to APD headquarters Thursday, interviewed by detectives and then arrested. Syvinski allegedly harassed a family, punching the father, then demanded 7-year-old Am-Marie Martin’s bike from her. When she refused, he allegedly punched her multiple times in the head, knocking her unconscious and sending her to the hospital in critical condition.

The Anchorage Police Department says a downtown bar bouncer at Rumrunners and the corporation that owns the bar have been charged with assault and police say there may be more victims who have yet to come forward. A grand jury indicted 39-year-old Murville L. Lampkin, a Rumrunners bouncer, on a charge of second degree assault in March. The grand jury also indicted AB & M Enterprises, Incorporated, the corporation which owns the bar, on charges of second degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of falsifying business records.

Anchorage police arrested Tonga Mackey, the wife of four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey, at a Spenard hotel on misdemeanor assault charges Monday night. According to APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker, witnesses say Mackey, 42, assaulted one of her family members in the foyer and parking lot at the Millennium Alaskan Hotel. Mackey was held overnight Monday without bail and arraigned Tuesday afternoon. Police believe alcohol was a factor. Email Amberia Hill

by The Associated Press Sunday, June 13, 2010 TRAPPER CREEK, Alaska -- Alaska State Troopers say a 23-year-old Utah man who refused to allow a family member to leave a lodge has been charged with kidnapping. David Joseph Cannon of Brigham, Utah, is also charged with five counts of assault. Security workers at Mount McKinley Princess Lodge, near Trapper Creek, called troopers just before 5 a.m. Sunday to report a domestic disturbance. Trooper investigators say Cannon assaulted the family member with numerous objects and tried to suffocate her. Troopers say the victim suffered numerous injuries.

Two Barrow children have medevaced to Anchorage after being assaulted at an apartment where a 28-year-old man was arrested in connection with the crime Thursday night. North Slope Borough Police Department officers responded to a 911 call requesting an ambulance at an apartment building on the 200 block of Momeganna Street for a child who was not breathing. Responders found a 3-year-old child who didn't have a pulse and wasn't breathing, as well as a 1-year-old in need of emergency medical attention.

The trial of a former Anchorage police officer charged with multiple sexual assaults continued Thursday. Anthony Rollins faces more than 20 counts, including charges that he sexually assaulted six women. The second alleged victim took the stand Thursday to talk about the day she says she was assaulted by Rollins. The victim says she was 19 years old when she was arrested for a DUI in April of 2009. Prosecutors say Rollins was processing the victim's arrest at a police substation when he sexually assaulted her. The victim told the jury that she was handcuffed at the substation and had told him, “No, no -- you can't do this” before the assault.

A man from Eagle, Alaska will spend nearly two years behind bars for a being a felon in possession of a firearm after he serves two years for a 2011 assault. 53-year-old Raymond Spruell was sentenced Friday to 23 months, according U.S. District Court. The court said Spruell will serve the gun sentence consecutive to his assault sentence when he received 24 months. In November 2011, Alaska State Troopers responded to his residence in Eagle after receiving reports of an assault.

A fugitive sought by U.S. marshals for failure to appear in court on charges including child endangerment is also wanted in Palmer for allegedly attempting to kill his wife, according to Anchorage police. APD spokesperson Anita Shell says Jeramie Micha Sharp, 34, missed an August change-of-plea hearing. He was charged with endangering the welfare of two children, as well as DUI and fourth-degree assault. According to Shell, Sharp has also been charged with attempted murder and multiple counts of assault in the Palmer case, which involved him allegedly firing a gun at his wife.

An Anchorage-based Marine Corps recruiter convicted in a court-martial Friday of sexually assaulting a friend's girlfriend on New Year's Eve 2011 may face local charges in the crime, according to the Anchorage Police Department. In a Monday statement, APD spokesperson Anita Shell says the case against 33-year-old Gunnery Sgt. Nicholas Howard, who worked at the Dimond Center mall, has been handed over to the district attorney's office. “December 31, 2011 began as a birthday celebration which included the victim and her boyfriend, Howard and his wife, and a third female,” Shell wrote.

As part of a mission to lower Alaska's high rate of domestic violence and sexual assault, Alaskans are using a national prevention program called Green Dot to reach that goal and think outside the box. Imagine seeing a map with a lot of red dots on them that represent domestic violence and sexual assaults that happen here in Alaska every single day -- then imagine those red dots are replaced by green dots that represent people coming up with solutions...

The use of deadly force can be a controversial topic. While alternatives to guns are available, Alaska officers are seeing a rise in assaults committed against them when perpetrators use guns or other weapons. Research compiled by the Justice Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage shows between 2002 and 2011, perpetrators used their hands, fist or feet in more than 70% of assaults on APD officers. More than 40% of perpetrators used a firearm in assaults on Alaska State Troopers.

Anchorage police say a man who allegedly raped and robbed two women in their Downtown hotel room last month was set to be arraigned Monday on sexual-assault and theft charges. According to APD spokesperson Anita Shell, 18-year-old Robert Mitchell Gutierrez has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of theft in the incident, which happened overnight March 16. Shell says the women, ages 19 and 21, were visiting from Soldotna for a shopping trip. One of them had met Gutierrez on the dating website plentyoffish.com, and made arrangements to meet with him when they finished shopping.

A new Alaska State Troopers tactical vehicle in the Mat-Su Valley saw its first use Friday, assisting in the peaceful end of a standoff at a Meadow Lakes home near Wasilla with neither injuries nor damage reported during the incident. An AST dispatch on the case says troopers responded to the home at about 5:30 a.m., after reports that an assault had occurred there. A video sent to Channel 2 by viewer Donn Burge showed several AST vehicles -- including a Lenco BearCat tactical vehicle assigned to the Valley, one of three recently purchased by troopers -- parked at the scene.

Four men have been arrested by Anchorage police on more than 30 charges, after they allegedly took a homeless teenage girl to an Eagle River apartment and raped her there for two days. In a Wednesday statement, APD spokesperson Dani Myren says the men -- Ryan Anthony Poole, 21; Joseph Sanford, 20; Alex Metzger, 19; and Jesse Contreras, 19 -- were taken into custody in connection with the case. In a criminal complaint, APD Detective Jade Baker says he and a Standing Together Against Rape advocate spoke with the victim, a 17-year-old Alaska Native girl, on the night of March 20. The victim said Metzger and Poole picked her up at about 10:20 p.m. on Saturday, March 16 at the Atwood Building, then took her to an apartment above Eagle River Liquor on the 16000 block of Artillery Road.

STORY UPDATED AT 3:28 p.m. 3/30/13: Airport police at Ted Stevens International Airport arrested a University of Alaska Anchorage student Friday for allegedly burglarizing and assaulting a man off campus Thursday afternoon near a Boniface Parkway home, which also prompted a UAA safety alert. Anchorge police issued felony warrants for Omar Luis Ducasse and Benjamin Zeckovic, both 21-years-old, on charges of first-degree burglary and third-degree assault. Ducasse also faces one count of second-degree assault.

Anchorage police say a man has been arrested in a Tuesday assault at a Midtown apartment, which left another man with extensive wounds including head injuries. APD spokesperson Dani Myren says officers responded at about 9:40 p.m. to reports of a drunkenness problem, on the 600 block of East 15th Terrace, slightly west of 15th Avenue's intersection with Gambell Street. The victim, 45-year-old Richard Oscar, was taken to the Alaska Native Medical Center after the incident. Myren says Oscar's injuries included head and face wounds with substantial bleeding.

Anchorage police say a 23-year-old man was arrested on drunk-driving and assault charges Tuesday after his pickup truck launched into rush-hour traffic on the curve between Tudor Road and Muldoon Road, injuring two other drivers. APD spokesperson Dani Myren says Anthony Rue faces one count of operating under the influence and two counts of felony assault in the three-vehicle crash, which happened at about 8:40 a.m. Tuesday. The incident began when Rue's 2004 Ford truck, headed north on Muldoon between Scenic View Drive and East 36th Avenue, hit the center median.

Anchorage police are asking for the public's aid to identify two men who sexually assaulted a woman at her Downtown home last month, then took her children's Christmas presents. APD spokesperson Anita Shell says the men claimed to be Colombian, picked up the woman on the night of Dec. 14 at the Fantasies on 5th/Club Elixir nightclub, at 1911 E. 5th Ave., and later assaulted her at her home. Many details about the case were unavailable to protect the woman's identity, but police say she wasn't the only victim of the crime.