54-year old Kirk Allyn Vandoren was arrested on August 20 at the Sitka airport on suspicion of drug trafficking. Police obtained a search warrant and arranged an x-ray of Vandoren’s abdomen. He was later found to be carrying over 23 grams of heroin internally.

The grand jury indicted Vandoren on one felony count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, and one misdemeanor count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree.

Vandoren is being held in the Sitka jail pending $25,000 bail.

Sitka police are also seeking information from anyone whose children may have had interaction with 46-year old Khari Wade. Police arrested Wade on Saturday (8-26-17) on

charges of Indecent Viewing or Photography of a Minor and Tampering with Physical Evidence.

Police are asking anyone to come forward who may have seen Wade in the men’s locker room at Blatchley swimming pool on Friday evening, August 25. They’re also trying to locate three boys, all around age 10, who may have interacted with Wade at the Sitka skate park at around 3 in the afternoon on Saturday, August 26. The number for Sitka police is 747-3245.

Wade was arraigned telephonically in Juneau court on Sunday. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in Sitka Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. on September 6.

Wade is being held in the Sitka jail pending $12,500 bail.

Giovanni Velez-Velez, age 22, allegedly stabbed 27-year-old Skyler Makua, causing a collapsed lung.

The indictment further alleges that Velez-Velez hid the knife in the grass along the side of a road. Velez-Velez was indicted on one count of assault in the first degree, a class A felony, and one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class C felony.  

According to court records, a fight broke out in the 200 block of Katlian Avenue on August 28. The stabbing was reported to the Sitka Police Department shortly before 2 a.m. Officer Eric Eccleston discovered Makua lying in the road and bleeding from a laceration on his chest. Eyewitnesses said the assailant had fled the scene.

Officers made contact with Velez-Velez at the Sitka Sound Seafood bunkhouses. According to court records, he admitted to stabbing Makua and led officers to the location of the knife. 

Velez-Velez was arraigned in superior court Tuesday and remains in custody pending $100,000 bail. His next hearing is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. on Monday, September 14th.