Fairbanks, AK - Fairbanks Police are looking for a man who slipped arrest and stole a patrol vehicle. Lieutenant Matt Soden says Julius Chambers escaped after being taken into custody at a 29th Avenue residence, where police had responded to a disturbance call. Lieutenant Soden says Chambers, among several people at the residence, was already wanted for a probation violation for an earlier assault conviction and was placed under arrest.
"He was placed in the back of a patrol car handcuffed behind his back. At some point while seated in the back of the patrol car he was able to, we believe, slip his handcuffs in front," Soden said. "He was able to take the patrol car from the scene. He drove it approximately three blocks and then drove into a ditch, and from there he ran from the police car."
Soden says it appears Chambers was able to move from the back to the drivers seat without exiting the vehicle. "It appears that he was able to open the partition. The partition between our patrol cars does have a sliding window, and he was able to somehow manage to open that and then crawl through the small window that’s there," he said.
Soden says no weapons were missing from the police car which was recovered. He says a perimeter was set up in an unsuccessful attempt to locate Chambers.
"An extensive search was done of the area using both our FPD Police K-9 as well as the Alaska State Trooper K-9, and multiple officers from local agencies responded to the area to assist us. Unfortunately we weren't able to locate Mr. Chambers," Soden said.
Chambers is described as white, 5 feet 5 inches tall with black hair. Lieutenant Soden says the public is asked not to contact Chambers if they see him, but to call police. He says Chambers faces felony charges related to last night’s incident.
