Suspect in at least 8 Anchorage trailside assaults detained, could face more charges
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A suspect in eight separate incidents of harassment and assaults near the Basher Drive Trailhead has been taken into custody, according to Anchorage Police.
The Anchorage Police Department shared on their website that 38-year-old Sean U. Ahmed was apprehended on Friday and initially charged with four counts of assault for incidents that occurred on July 27.
More charges related to other assaults and incidents on the trail may be added later.
Courtview records show that Ahmed has been charged with assault on at least two prior occasions.
The arrest comes after numerous hikers on the East Anchorage trail experienced harassment, assault, or vandalism of their vehicles parked near the trailhead. The incidents that Anchorage police are tying to the suspect began with reports on Monday evening, when a man called to report that the day before he and another hiker had encountered someone in the Basher Drive Trailhead area who yelled and threw rocks at the pair.
Later that day a second report was made to APD, this time from a man who had been walking with his wife on Campbell Airstrip Road when a man carrying a stick confronted them, hitting his wife with the stick and threw a rock at the man that caused minor injuries.
On the evening of July 25, officers received a report of an assault near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Elmore Road from two hikers, one of whom was punched by a man on the trail.
The next day another man was punched when he was walking in the morning on Campbell Creek Trail near the Old Seward Highway and East International Airport Road. That afternoon, a woman walking on the trail reported being grabbed by the arm, shaken, and thrown to the ground by a man who yelled something the woman said was unintelligible.
In each of these incidents, police responded but were unable to locate the suspect. As reports mounted, APD assigned an officer to investigate.
Anchorage Assembly member Karen Bronga spoke from the dais at Tuesday’s meeting about being harassed on a trail while hiking with her husband — a man throwing rocks at them.
By midday Thursday, a hiker reported a man on the trail verbally threatened him while holding an axe over his head while hiking with a friend. When they returned to their vehicles at a nearby parking area, they found the tires of the vehicle had been slashed.
Another report on Thursday evening from a woman who reported a man attempted to punch her while walking with her daughter near Muldoon and 36th Avenue trails. That woman was able to avoid injury from the suspect, but fell to the ground during the altercation. Her daughter responded by pushing the man, who also fell to the ground before standing up and running away, avoiding detection by police.
At least one other hiker had their vehicle’s tires slashed while near the Basher Drive trailhead before APD responded to a report on Friday afternoon of a man yelling threats, The description provided to police matched that of the other incidents, and a responding officer observed the suspect in the area. After calling for additional police units, APD officers approached the subject while he was laying in the trailside woods.
Ahmed was taken into custody without incident and immediately charged with two counts of assault for each of the two incidents reported on Friday.
Those who have recently had similar encounters on trails in Anchorage are encouraged to contact the Anchorage Police Department’s dispatch line at 3-1-1, option #1, or 907-786-8900, option #0.
Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Source: Alaska's News Source
