A Juneau man is facing three felony charges for stealing from someone who was allowing him to sleep at her home.
Julian J. Diaz, 26, was indicted on charges of first-degree robbery, third-degree assault and second-degree theft, according to an indictment filed Dec. 13. Juneau Police Department Officer Eric Hoffman detailed the scenario in a police report.
On the morning of Dec. 8, Hoffman wrote, JPD got a call from a woman in Kodzoff Acres Mobile Home Park claiming that Diaz had stolen from her and then hit her with a car as he was leaving. Hoffman arrived on the scene to find the woman, Ninoska Hernandez, barefoot and covered in mud.
She told Hoffman that she had allowed Diaz to live with her for a while, but had recently asked Diaz to move out when he didn’t pay rent. As Diaz was packing up his things, Hernandez noticed that Diaz also took a couple boxes of hers that contained an estimated $1,000 worth of phones and phone parts, according to Hoffman’s report.
[Woman charged with murder pleads not guilty]
Hernandez followed Diaz outside, she later told Hoffman, and stood in front of Diaz’s truck to try and stop him from leaving. Diaz started the car, revved the engine and then drove forward, the report states. She was leaning on the hood of the car as it slowly moved forward. Then Diaz suddenly reversed the car, causing Hernandez to fall. Diaz then drove away. The police report doesn’t mention any injuries to Hernandez.
When Hoffman arrived on the scene, Hernandez told him the story and said that $500 had also been taken from her purse, according to Hoffman’s report. Hoffman also watched security footage that backed up Hernandez’s story.
Diaz, who had gone to Switzer Village Mobile Home Park, also called 911 soon afterward, reporting that Hernandez had been aggressive toward him. Hoffman wrote in his report that this claim was not backed up by the security footage he watched. Hoffman asked to search the truck, but Diaz said he had locked the keys inside and advised that they could use a coat hanger or a stick to unlock the car, Hoffman wrote. Diaz later told Hoffman that he didn’t have the keys to the car, according to the report.
When Hoffman specifically asked about the stolen items, Diaz said he didn’t have them. On Hernandez’s recommendation, Hoffman went to the home of one of Diaz’s friends and found that Diaz had dropped off the items there, the report states. Diaz apologized to Hoffman for lying multiple times, Hoffman wrote in his report.
First-degree robbery is a class A felony, third-degree assault is a class C felony and second-degree theft is a class C felony. None of the charges are classified as domestic violence, according to the indictment.
Man indicted for hitting son with gun
A 38-year-old Juneau man faces two counts of second-degree assault for choking and then pistol-whipping his 18-year-old son, according to charging documents.
Capital City Fire/Rescue personnel and JPD Officer Hannah Malone responded to a call on the night of Nov. 30, according to Malone’s report. The victim said he had been walking in the area of St. Vincent de Paul on Teal Street with his 15-year-old brother. Their father has full custody of the younger brother, according to charging documents, and the younger brother had run away from home earlier in the day.
The father showed up in his truck and grabbed the older son’s throat, according to the report. After choking him until the son couldn’t breathe, the father pushed the son away and pulled out a pistol, the son later told police. The father hit the 18-year-old hard across the face, the police report alleged.
Malone wrote that she noticed the son had fresh bruising on his face and saw there was considerable swelling on his cheekbone. The son declined an ambulance ride to Bartlett Regional Hospital but told Malone that he was planning on going over to the hospital later with his mother for treatment.
Police found the father at his home later on and found that the younger son was unharmed, Malone’s report stated. The father initially denied having the gun but eventually told police that the gun was in a safe place.
The father now faces two charges of assault, both of which are class B felonies. The separate charges, according to the indictment, are using his hands and a gun to cause injuries.
The charges were classified as domestic violence charges. The Empire isn’t naming those involved to protect the identity of the victim.
Bank robber indicted on one felony charge
David Glenn Waits, 54, was arrested Dec. 6 for allegedly attempting to rob Wells Fargo Bank downtown, and now he faces a felony charge.
A Juneau grand jury indicted Waits for coercion, meaning that he threatened someone to do something illegal. It’s a class C felony, according to the indictment.
On the afternoon of Dec. 6, Waits walked into the downtown branch and slipped the teller a handwritten note asking for $50 and $100 bills, according to charging documents. Waits appeared “heavily intoxicated,” bank employees told JPD Officer Don Ward, and the note was hard to read.
The teller went and got the bank manager, saying that he thought Waits might have a gun, according to the police report. The bank manager hit the panic alarm, which alerted JPD. The teller handed waits a single $100 bill and Waits left.
Ward arrived on scene and looked at security footage. He recognized Waits from previous interactions, according to the police report. An officer found Waits at the Downtown Transit Center shortly afterward and detained him, police said at the time. The $100 bill was not found.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
