09/03/15 Anchorage, AK – Warrant Arrest – Handcuffed In Backseat – His Wife Steals ALASKA STATE POLICE CAR – Helicopter Search Found Patrol Car – Both Escaped

September 3, 2015

ktuu.com

A man and woman from Big Lake are wanted by Alaska State Trooper for stealing a Trooper vehicle Wednesday afternoon, the agency says.

Troopers say 38-year-old Joshua Watford was being arrested on a warrant at North Shore Pawn, near the intersection of Big Lake Road and North Shore Drive around 2:26 p.m. While Watford was cuffed and secured in the back of the Trooper vehicle, a passing motorist stopped and began talking to the Trooper about an unrelated issue.

At that time, 28-year-old Amber Watford got into the driver’s seat of the Trooper vehicle and drove away with Joshua Watford in the backseat.

The Trooper vehicle was located about an hour later on W. Fireweed Drive, just about a mile away, unoccupied and undamaged.

An Anchorage Police Department K-9 unit was called to assist in the search, which also included a trooper helicopter and Wildlife Troopers. The search lasted until about 6:30 p.m.

Joshua and Amber Watford are still unaccounted for. Troopers ask anyone with information on their location to call AST at 352-5401 or your local law enforcement.

ORIGINAL POST:

Alaska State Troopers are looking for two individuals after a Trooper vehicle was stolen in the Big Lake area.

Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters told Channel 2 News that around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, a person got into the driver’s seat of the trooper vehicle and drove away, while a suspect was detained in the backseat.

Peters says the vehicle was found in the Big Lake area but troopers are still looking for the two people involved.

Peters did not have immediate information on the identities of the two people.