An Unjust Justice System in Rural Alaska!!!

It was the summer of 2012. My husband and father-in-law were out of town doing a construction project in Stebbins. Well, I bumped into my mother-in-law at the post office and she looked a little distressed so I went up to say hi to her. When I did she whispered to me that she was robbed. I couldn’t believe it. Someone had gone into her house in the middle of the night and stole $500 from her purse.

I told her that I would spend the night at her house so that she might be able to sleep a little more comfortably. Anyways, that night I slept in the upstairs bedroom next to the kitchen. I laid there in bed, tossing and turning all night trying to listen for footsteps or any sign that someone was coming in. I heard nothing, but low and behold, at about 3 am someone came into my room in the dark. 

I thought it might be my mother-in-law checking in on me. Initially, I thought nothing of it until the person came in a second time and then a third time. I thought to myself, “So weird. Why is Annabelle coming into my room? Does she think I stole the money from her?”
My heart began thumping so hard and fast that I could hear it. Whoever was coming into my room took my jeans that were hanging on the chair and then brought them back in. The pockets had nothing in them. I don’t usually carry cash. Then the person took my jacket that was hanging on the chair and brought it back after a minute of searching through my pockets. All I had in my jacket pockets were my debit and credit cards and ID’s.

Finally, the person came into my room again, but began walking towards the nightstand next to my bed. I don’t know if he/she knew I was sleeping in the room or not. Once they got next to my bed, I opened my eyes and realized it wasn’t my mother-in-law. I could only make out the shape of a male in a dark hoodie. I sat up quickly and shouted, “Hey!!! What are you doing in here?” He was startled and began running out of the bedroom. I ran after him and tried to grab at him, but only caught the shoulder of his hoodie. He reached back to try to loosen my grip, but did not turn around so I could see his face.

It all happened so quickly. His sweater slipped out of my grip and he continued running through the kitchen and out onto the deck. He skipped the steps and jumped right off the deck. It was dark out so I couldn't figure out who he was. His dark hoodie disappeared into dark as he ran past a neighbor's house. I was so disappointed that I let him go. I wanted to be a hero. I wanted justice for my mother-in-law.

After I realized that he was long gone, I walked back in and saw my mother-in-law staring at me in the kitchen. She must have heard me yelling from downstairs. I told her what happened and how the burglar got away. We lucked out because the burglar made a mistake. When he came into the house, he took off his shoes and placed his cap on the table. Well, when I ran him out of the house, he didn’t get the chance to grab either of them. The cap was blue and had a large letter “B” on it. I knew whose cap it was.

We called the police and the next day the guy was arrested. It turns out that he had stolen $3,000 from the mayor’s house in prior weeks, but they didn’t have any evidence against him. So, the mayor was happy that I had caught him in the act and he was being arrested for his bad deeds.

For weeks on end I was paranoid about going to sleep at night because I kept imagining a man coming into my room at night. I kept mace on the nightstand next to my bed. Any little noise I heard, even the wind or furnace, would startle me. Only when I knew he was in jail could I again sleep at night.                       

I kept looking at Alaska Court Records online to make sure he would be charged for what he did. He was supposed to be charged with three counts of Burglary 1 (Class B felony), Theft 2 (Class C Felony), three counts of Theft 3 (Class A Misdemeanor), and Assault in the 4^th degree. I was so happy because I thought he would be put away for years and years. 

Weeks and months passed. I kept checking the Court Records. In September of 2012, I was disappointed to find that the prosecution had dismissed all of his felony charges. All he got charged with were 2 misdemeanors and he was set free. I couldn’t believe it. They said the reason for dismissing the felonies was because it was his first offense. How could it be his first offense when there were three separate occasions where he went into houses and stole items? How is the justice system just: just letting this miscreant go with a slap to his wrist? How is he going to learn his lesson?

One good thing about the whole incident is that this guy never came back to Unalakleet: I must have scared him out of town. I also got a reputation of someone not to mess with. :P When the incident happened, I was in the moment. I didn’t even stop to think about whether the burglar had weapons on him. He could have had a knife or gun. I just jumped up and went after him like a cat out of a bag. Through it all, I learned that I can protect myself. He may have got a slap to the wrist, but if he ever comes back and tries to break into my mother-in-law’s house again, I will get him and I will lay the smack down. Nobody messes with my family and gets away with it.