A number of guns and hoodies were found near the bridge over California Creek on August 18. The FBI is investigating.
By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, pursuing leads from an August 18 Anchorage bank robbery, arrived in Girdwood the following day. The East 5th Avenue Wells Fargo was robbed around 10:14 a.m., and weapons that may be connected to the heist were discovered around 1 p.m. the same day near California Creek.
Suspects Kaleem Tikori Fredericks and Calel Calvis Alexis Crofford have been charged with robbing the bank on August 18. The pair was arrested at Ted Stevens International Airport around midnight the same evening.
At 1 p.m., a person was walking on the trail near the bridge over California Creek, close to the intersection of Holmgren Place and Linblad Avenue. A white plastic bag had reportedly been seen in the creek. Inspection revealed a blue backpack containing pellet guns and hoodies, which were promptly taken to the Girdwood Trooper Post.
Alaska State Troopers’ Daily Dispatch issued a vaguely worded post on Aug. 20 about receiving the backpack, stating, “The item was a backpack with miscellaneous items inside. The backpack was placed into evidence for safe keeping.”
Department of Public Safety Public Information Officer Megan Peters explained the deduction that led to a possible link of the backpack to the robbery. “A backpack was turned into us at the Girdwood post. Our trooper realized later on that it was connected to the FBI’s case and turned it over to them.”
The Gazette has learned that FBI agents searched the area near the creek and found a shotgun, but the FBI does not comment on cases currently under investigation.
Since AST is not the lead agency in the investigation, it cannot comment on the contents of the backpack, which types of firearms were found or if they are suspected of being related to the robbery.
A criminal complaint of bank robbery, written by FBI Special Agent Berry Vaughn, was filed in the U.S. District Court on Aug. 19. It states, “According to the photos obtained by the bank’s security system, one bank robber was wearing a red hooded sweater, dark sunglasses, dark pants, and blue and white tennis shoes. He had a sawed-off shotgun and blue backpack. The other robber was wearing a gray hooded jacket, dark pants, red and black shoes, and sunglasses. He had a handgun and was carrying a black bag with straps, which he placed the money into. … The bank robbers pointed their firearms at the bank employees and customers.”
Later in the complaint, it describes information obtained during one of the suspect’s interviews after arrest, saying, “Fredericks stated that he was carrying a ‘not real’ handgun, which he later called a ‘BB’ gun. Fredericks stated that he did not know if Crofford was carrying a weapon. Fredericks stated that the gun was initially in the waistband of his pants, but that he may have brandished the weapon before placing it on the teller counter.”
One day after the robbery, Laundromall owner Danny Pfister described FBI agents entering his business. “I was in working,” he said. “Two men dressed up came in, flashed opened their wallets and said, ‘This is the FBI. We’re investigating a robbery that took place yesterday in Anchorage. We were wondering if you have a camera system outside.’ They found some clothing and a gun or guns, I’m not sure which, in California Creek.”
Pfister took the agents outside and showed them the recently installed, $15,000 camera system for The Herbal Cache, the marijuana retail store in the Laundromall building. He said the video footage may show whether the suspects drove down Holmgren Place or Crow Creek Road to get to California Creek.
“They were hoping that perhaps the cameras caught a small, silver SUV driving by,” Pfister said, “which is a car that they either stole or used in the robbery. If they could find that, then they could slam dunk the conviction that they drove by and that it was them who dropped the weapons down.”
Pfister directed the agents to Sue Carse, owner of The Herbal Cache, and a recently retired Anchorage attorney. The agents inquired about her security system, and she agreed to help them.
“They came in this morning, and we looked,” Carse said. “They had given us a description of the vehicle that the people they caught were arrested in and in jail. We were able to find what I think the FBI thought was their vehicle drive by, so we gave them a thumb drive of that. From our video, you couldn’t see the license plate or really see the people inside the car. You can see it going down the street. We lost our camera vision, so we couldn’t see if they turned into that little parking area.”
Carse was told weapons were found by California Creek, and that the agents were looking for additional evidence to support their case, which they believe is solid.
“I think he [the FBI agent] thought they had sufficient evidence,” Carse said, “and he was trying to get additional evidence to make the case that much more concrete. We were glad to help. It’s nice to know the security system can benefit the community in ways like that.”