ANCHORAGE — A man suspected of fatally shooting an Alaska State Trooper dog was charged Monday with four felonies, including two counts of assault.
The dog was shot Sunday after an attempted traffic stop, a pursuit of several miles and a dash into a wooded area by the driver.
A Palmer police officer tried to stop a small sedan with four people inside, and when the driver left the city on Glenn Highway, called in troopers.
The officers followed the car for several miles and down a long driveway.
The officers and a police dog followed the driver into the woods. The driver fired several shots, striking the dog, troopers said. The officers returned fire, striking the driver in the shoulder.
The officers arrested Almando Abarca, 25. He was transported to a hospital with what troopers described as a non-life-threatening injury.
Abarca was charged with two counts of assault, harming a police dog and failure to stop at the direction of a police officer.
He was jailed in Anchorage and scheduled for arraignment Monday. Online court documents did not list a defense attorney.
Abarca was wanted on an arrest warrant in a previous burglary case, troopers said.
Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said the names of the officers who fired their weapons would not be released for 72 hours, per policy.
The dog’s name also was being withheld because it would identify its handler.
The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is investigating.
