Three Sitkans were indicted in November on charges ranging from weapons possession to failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer.

A high speed car chase in mid-November ended in a Sitka woman’s arrest. In a sworn police affidavit, Sergeant Lance Ewers said that on November 7 around 11 p.m., he passed a speeding Ford pickup driving outbound on Halibut Point Road. He attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver did not stop and began speeding faster. Ewers said he pursued the driver for just under 3 miles, with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. When the driver, 48-year old Margaurite Keicher, finally pulled over on Nelson Logging Road, Ewers said she would not say while she failed to stop, only that she was, “just trying to help a friend.” The other passenger in the vehicle told Ewers that he had told Keicher to pull over and attempted to turn off the vehicle’s ignition to stop the car chase. 

On November 13, a grand jury indicted Keicher for a felony charge of failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer and one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol. A hearing in Keicher’s case is set for December 4.

The week after the car chase, on November 9, police received a 911 call reporting a domestic violence assault. According to court documents, Officer Gabe Ferguson responded to interview the woman and her alleged assailant, 30-year-old Tommy Svilar.

In a sworn statement, Ferguson said when he stepped into the couple’s home, he observed two unloaded Glock magazines by the kitchen sink and a revolver on the counter, which ended up being a realistic BB gun. He then observed a loaded Glock pistol sitting on some boxes in the hallway. After confirming that Svilar had a previous felony conviction on his record, Ferguson collected the gun. Svilar was not present at his home at the time. He was later arrested without incident. 

On November 13, a grand jury indicted Svilar on one felony count of misconduct involving weapons. The next hearing in Svilar’s case is set for December 4.

Also in November, a grand jury indicted 27-year-old Amelia Merculief for allegedly stealing another person’s identification document. So far, few details about the case are publicly available in court documents.

KCAW has reached out to the attorneys for each of the defendants for comment.