Press Release

Unalaska Jury Convicts Man of Vehicle Theft

November 17, 2016

(Anchorage, AK) – On November 15, 2016, 29 year old Meron Emahazien was found guilty by an Unalaska jury of vehicle theft in the first degree. Superior Court Judge Steve Cole presided over the five day trial.

On June 4, 2015, officers from the Unalaska Police Department responded to a report of a vehicle which had been stolen at the Unisea facility in Unalaska. Responding officers found a pickup truck parked near a Unisea building. The pickup suffered significant damage. Unisea employees initially did not know who had taken the pickup but surveillance video later revealed that Emahazien had stolen it. Emahazien was contacted several hours later. Emahazien was intoxicated and admitted he had consumed alcohol before taking the vehicle.

Judge Cole scheduled sentencing for March 2017. Emahazien faces a sentence of two to five years in prison as a result of this conviction and his prior criminal history. Emahazien has been in the custody of the Department of Corrections since his arrest in June 2016.

CONTACT: Assistant District Attorney Patrick McKay at (907) 269-6300 or patrick.mckay@alaska.gov.

More information about the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office is available at http://www.law.alaska.gov/department/criminal/adao.html.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.