Jeramy J. Freriks, 31, and Rodney Lee Drake, 48, both of Fairbanks, were arraigned Wednesday on charges of resisting arrest. Freriks was also charged with burglary, eluding and access to a fraud device, according to police.
Freriks, who has prior convictions for forgery and theft, had about 10 state-issued ID cards on him when police arrested him Tuesday, Lt. Paul Honeman said. The cards were real and issued by the state, but in the names of other people, he said.
"We think they're stealing checks from the mail, creating false IDs, and writing themselves checks," Honeman said. Police are asking people who think they may be victims of possible theft or fraud crimes to contact them, he said.
The men have been in Anchorage for about a month, Honeman said.
Police were tipped off to their location after one of them left a handgun in a Spenard motel after checking out. When officer Jeff Bell responded, he realized the room was registered to a Fairbanks man who had several warrants out for his arrest, Honeman said.
The gun was not stolen, and Bell took it for safekeeping. He called motel employees and asked them to call him if the guest returned, but the staff said the man was there as they were speaking, Honeman said.
Bell returned to the motel and saw the guest and another man get into a red Ford Explorer SUV, which he followed. When the vehicle began speeding recklessly, Bell stopped his pursuit, Honeman said.
Then, within 15 minutes after he had lost sight of it, Bell saw the same SUV return to a dead-end road on the 4800 block of Spenard Road, several blocks away from the motel. Bell blocked the vehicle in while he waited for backup to arrive, police said.
When the men saw Bell, they ran away, but police chased them on foot. They caught Drake in a parking lot a short time later, Honeman said.
Freriks apparently went into a storm cellar at a nearby home to hide, but the homeowner saw him and told police, who found him there, Honeman said.
Freriks is being held at the Anchorage jail in lieu of $50,000 bail for the new charges, with no bail set for his probation violation.
Drake is charged with resisting arrest and was remanded without bail at the Anchorage jail for his outstanding warrants in Fairbanks.
According to court records, Drake has several assault convictions. Freriks was convicted of forgery and second-degree theft in 2006, according to court records, and he was on probation for those violations.
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