Car thefts, vandalisms, and hit-and-runs have kept the Sitka Police Department busy this summer.

According to a sworn police affidavit, on July 2 shortly before 4 p.m., 62-year-old Brian Bickar allegedly crashed his car into an occupied vehicle on Lake Street and kept driving. Over an hour later, police received a report of a second hit-and-run on Katlian Street. The victim was hospitalized for injuries, but she was able to get a license plate number of the vehicle that hit her car. Witness accounts along with surveillance footage of the Lake Street crash connected the two accidents, and led police to Bickar, the registered owner of the vehicle. 

Around 5 p.m. that evening, officers Amber Blackmon and Richard Meunier arrived at Bickar’s house where they found him visibly intoxicated and unable to walk. He was arrested, and on July 11 a Sitka Grand Jury indicted him on one felony count of assault in the third degree, and one felony count of leaving an accident without assisting an injured person. Then, on July 15, he was indicted for driving under the influence, refusing to submit to a chemical test, and failure to give notice of an accident– all misdemeanor charges.

A trial in Bickar’s case is tentatively scheduled for November 10.

July’s double-hit-and-run wasn’t the only time police had to chase down a driver this summer. On June 22, 36-year-old Elliot Torres Monreal was arrested for allegedly stealing a van belonging to a local tour operator. According to court documents, around 3 a.m., police found an Allen Marine van parked in the roundabout joining Sawmill Creek and Halibut Point Road.

A witness told investigating officer Barry Wilson that he saw two men exit the van, throw beer bottles on the ground, and walk toward downtown Sitka. In a sworn statement, Wilson said he found Monreal and another man walking on Lincoln Street, visibly intoxicated. On June 26, Monreal was indicted on one count of vehicle theft, a class C felony. 

A trial in Monreal’s case is tentatively scheduled for November.

In addition to car theft, police responded to one incident of car vandalism in June. Around 5 p.m. on June 3, 27-year-old Diego Carlos was arrested after witnesses told police he had vandalized a Volkswagen Jetta, allegedly carving words onto its exterior and spraying bear spray inside the vehicle. On June 18, a Sitka Grand Jury indicted Carlos on one count of criminal mischief in the third degree, a Class C felony.

Two men were also indicted in Sitka this summer for crimes involving sexual assault or harassment. In July, 32-year-old Jorge Ruiz-Rivera was indicted on three felony counts of stalking in the first degree, and one count of violating a protective order, a misdemeanor. And on June 12, a Sitka Grand Jury indicted 23-year-old Caleb Zigmont on two felony counts of sexual assault in the second degree. A trial in his case is scheduled for October. 

KCAW has reached out to representation for all of the defendants for comment on their cases.