A Juneau man suspected of multiple burglaries remains on the lam Tuesday, evading police on Friday and Saturday and missing a court date Monday.
The Juneau Police Department issued a be-on-the-lookout advisory Monday evening for 27-year-old Dakota Gallant in connection with one recent burglary, of the Subway restaurant in the Mendenhall Valley.
Wade Bryson, who owns both Subways in Juneau, told the Empire that Gallant had broken in through the drive-thru some time Thursday night and took a 250-pound safe that was concealed under a counter. According to the press release from JPD, the safe was valued at $1,500 and contained about $1,000 in cash.
Gallant reportedly was quickly identified as the suspect on surveillance video; according to Bryson, his employee knew that Gallant had been living in an abandoned van at the Dragon Inn on Glacier Highway. Bryson followed a JPD officer to the parking lot of the restaurant Friday morning and saw the van with Gallant inside.
Gallant took off running into the woods, Bryson said.
[Suspect identified in Subway break-in, flees from victim and cops]
A woman at the scene, Jessica Anne Bell, 34, was identified and released at the scene, JPD public safety manager Erann Kalwara said in the release. It was determined that both Gallant and Bell were involved in the burglary of Subway, she said.
Gallant also is the suspect in another break-in, of an engineering firm’s office in the 2200 block of Jordan Avenue.
Owner David Buss said that he had installed a surveillance camera more than a year ago after an earlier burglary, and that the surveillance video showed Gallant “pretty clearly” in his office at about midnight Friday.
“I’m not sure why we were targeted,” Buss said. “He didn’t take a whole lot; I don’t know if the camera discouraged him.”
Gallant reportedly stole a camera valued at $200, as well as a coat, a toolbox and a cup full of quarters, Buss said.
At about 11:55 a.m. Saturday, JPD received a tip that Gallant and Bell were in the woods near the Auke Bay roundabout, Kalwara said. Three officers responded and were able to safely detain Bell, who was ultimately arrested for second-degree burglary and second-degree theft; she remains in custody at Lemon Creek Correctional Center and was set to be arraigned in District Court Tuesday.
Gallant fled the area on foot and is still at large, Kalwara said. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to call JPD at 586-0600 or report an anonymous tip online at JuneauCrimeline.com. Gallant has short brown hair and a beard, hazel eyes, and is about 6 feet tall with a medium build, Kalwara said. He has many tattoos, including several visible on his neck.
Gallant was scheduled to appear in Juneau District Court Monday on a parole violation, but did not show up; a new $250 warrant was issued by Judge Thomas Nave. Gallant has an extensive criminal history and recently was charged with first-degree vehicle theft in connection with a Feb. 10 arrest; that case is set for trial Sept. 25. He was arrested in mid-July on four outstanding warrants but subsequently bonded out of Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.
