A Juneau grand jury indicted two men on charges of child pornography possession on June 7.
James Aaron Chapman, 44, was indicted on 15 counts of possession, while Trace Mitchell, 21, was indicted on 19 counts. Assistant District Attorney Bailey Woolfstead said Monday that the two men’s charges are not connected, and that they just happened to have been charged on the same day with similar crimes.
The Office of Special Prosecutions is prosecuting the case against Chapman, according to electronic court records, and Chapman was arraigned in Juneau. Mitchell was arraigned in Anchorage, and Woolfstead is prosecuting that case.
The indictment details videos and photos the two men allegedly had, including a folder of photos on Mitchell’s computer that was entitled “Little girls.” According to charging documents, Mitchell had photos and videos in his possession from January through August 2017, and Chapman had photos and videos in his possession in November 2017.
Chapman will be in court in Juneau on Tuesday for further proceedings, according to electronic court records. Mitchell is no longer in custody, according to electronic court records. The sentencing range for possession of child pornography, according to Alaska Statute 12.55.125, is two to 12 years in prison for a first-time felony offender. Electronic court records show no prior convictions for Mitchell and only minor offenses for Chapman.
Alleged Home Depot robber stole, sold power tool
A few more details came to light about the May 22 Home Depot robbery, as charging documents were released Monday.
Juneau man Patrick Kauwila Kane Jr., also known as “Biscuit,” was indicted for first-degree robbery, third-degree assault and second-degree theft. Juneau Police Department Detective Lee Phelps stated in his report in the indictment that a Home Depot employee, who is a victim in the case, said he and other employees spotted a man leaving the store with a cart of merchandise without paying.
Phelps’ report states that the employee caught up with the suspect outside the store near the garden area and asked to see a receipt. The employee told Phelps that the suspect then grabbed one of the boxes — for a DeWalt power tool — and started to run away. The employee grabbed the suspect, the report states, and the suspect then pulled out a knife.
The employee let the man go, the report states, and the suspect ran off with the DeWalt box. During the scuffle, according to the report, the suspect dropped his cellphone. Officers got a warrant to search the phone, prosecutors say, and found the phone belonged to Kane. Officers showed a photo array to the employee, according to the indictment, and the employee identified the photo of Kane as the suspect with 100 percent certainty.
At 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, JPD officers found Kane, according to Phelps’ report. Phelps wrote that he spoke with Kane, and Kane admitted that he went to Home Depot that day looking to “steal some tools to sell them for money.” Kane, who turns 40 this Tuesday, told Phelps he pulled a small (three or four inches long) knife blade out after the employee grabbed him.
Phelps’ report states that Kane said he grabbed a DeWalt sawzall — a handheld electric saw — out of the shopping cart, ran away and eventually sold the sawzall for $100. Phelps’ report does not state where or to whom Kane sold the sawzall.
Juneau man charged with drunken driving, not using ignition locking device
A man with multiple drunken driving convictions was arrested this past Saturday morning for driving while intoxicated, not submitting to a chemical test and not using a device that requires him to give a clean breath sample to operate his car.
At 2:55 a.m. Saturday, JPD Officer Jim Esbenshade pulled over a Dodge Dakota that was drifting in its lane on Egan Drive near the Glacier Highway Access Road, according to charging documents. In the car was 47-year-old Mark Allen Knott, according to the indictment.
Knott’s license, according to Esbenshade’s report, was formatted vertically and had a red line at the top with the words “alcohol restricted” on it. Esbenshade wrote that dispatchers also informed him that Knott was supposed to have an Ignition Interlock Device (IID). An IID is equipped with a breathalyzer and requires a driver to blow into it with a clean breath sample to unlock the device.
Knott told Esbenshade, according to the indictment, that it was his wife’s car and there was no IID in it. Esbenshade wrote in his report that Knott told him he had drunk two beers that night, and Esbenshade wrote that he could smell alcohol on Knott’s breath and see that his eyes were bloodshot and watery.
Knott’s speech was slurred and his balance was wobbly, Esbenshade wrote, and Knott failed a field sobriety test. Knott refused to provide a breath sample at the Data Master machine back at the station, according to charging documents, even though Esbenshade informed him he would be charged with refusing to provide a sample.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
