Kodiak, AK - Officer Responds To Domestic Disturbance Call - Adult Male Steals Her Police Car - Abandons It - Suspect Arrested

October 13, 2010

kodiakdailymirror.com

An officer summoned to a downtown bar for a domestic disturbance ended the evening without a patrol vehicle.

“She used her key fob to unlock the doors,” Kodiak Police Chief T.C. Kamai said. “An adult male — for reasons we don’t completely understand — jumped into the car and took off with it.”

The officer gave chase on foot but was unsuccessful in recovering the vehicle.

The 2010 Dodge Charger was found later in the downtown area by a harbor office patrolman.

“The best we could tell there was no damage, nor did we find any equipment or firearms missing,” Kamai said.

Eyewitness reports were used to identify the suspect.

The suspect, 25-year-old Bradleigh W. Helenhouse, has been arrested and charged with vehicle theft I and failure to stop at direction of an officer. Both are class C felonies.

“Its hard to say what was in his mind at the time,” Kamai said. “Everyone would agree that it was a spontaneous thing. We’re hopeful that the swift resolution in his arrest will discourage people from thinking this is something they want to do.”

As far as Kamai knows, this is the first time a police car has been stolen in Kodiak.

“In the years I’ve been here, I don’t recall us ever losing a patrol car like that,” he said.

Back