At 8:33 PM on November 1, 2021, Anchorage Police responded to Walmart at 3101 A Street regarding a shoplift that had turned into a robbery. Initial indications are that 26-year-old Aaron Griffin entered the store, took food from the shelves and consumed it, caused damage to other merchandise, and then began to walk out of the store without paying for additional items he had on his person. When Loss Prevention (LP) confronted Griffin at the store’s exit, Griffin lunged at the two twice with a knife in his hand. Griffin’s actions put the LPs in fear of immediate severe physical injury. The LPs called APD and provided a physical description of Griffin.

When officers arrived at the store, they saw Griffin walking northbound through the parking lot. One of the officers activated his patrol vehicle’s lights and sirens; Griffin began running westbound. Two officers gave chase while making announcements the entire time which Griffin ignored. At one point during the foot pursuit, Griffin ran into traffic in an attempt to get away. The three of them ran to a grassy area just to the west of the 3000-block of A Street. At that point Griffin quit running, followed the officers’ instructions, and was taken into custody without further incident.

Griffin gave a name and date of birth that did not belong to him. Officers gave Griffin several False Report warnings however Griffin continued to give the same false name. Griffin was ultimately identified by his fingerprints. Griffin was remanded at the Anchorage Jail on the charges of False Information, Resisting, two counts of Assault III, Reckless Endangerment, Theft IV, and Robbery I.

There were no injuries.

APD Case 21-35518