At 11:34 PM on November 1, 2021, a citizen called APD to report the theft of his green GMC pickup. The citizen stated he had picked up an adult male, whom he did not know, at Red Apple in Mountain View. The citizen agreed to give the man a ride to a downtown hotel. On the way, the citizen stopped at Carrs on Muldoon Road. The citizen went inside the store and left the male in his pickup with the keys. When the citizen went back out to the parking lot approximately 15 minutes later, both his truck and the man were gone.

At 2:25 PM on November 7th the citizen called APD Dispatch and stated he located his unoccupied stolen GMC parked in the Executive Suite parking lot at 4360 Spenard Road. The caller told the dispatcher that the vehicle’s license plate was inside the truck, and a different plate was mounted on the outside of the vehicle. Through a computer check the dispatcher discovered that the second plate was mentioned in a shoplift case earlier that day from the Sportsman Warehouse at 8681 Old Seward Highway. During that incident, a Sportsman employee reported to police that an adult male and adult female had walked out of the store with over $1,000 worth of merchandise. They left in a green pickup; they did not attempt to pay for any of the items.

Police responded to Executive Suites and ascertained which room number the people went into who had parked the stolen vehicle. Officers knocked on the door of the room but received no response. Other officers, who were on the back side of the building, ultimately detained two people: an adult male who crawled out of the window of the target room and an adult female who attempted to enter the target room through the window. Both were ultimately identified as the two suspects who had stolen from Sportsman Warehouse approximately two hours before.

18-year-old Aireal J. Tebbits and 22-year-old Austin M. Sala were transported to the Anchorage Police Department for questioning. Austin Sala initially gave police a name that was not his own. After the interviews, Aireal Tebbits was remanded at Hiland Correctional on the charges of Theft II and Criminal Mischief V – Riding in a Stolen Vehicle. Austin Sala was remanded at the Anchorage Jail on two outstanding warrants (one for Parole Violation and the other for Escape). He was additionally charged with Vehicle Theft I, Theft II, Theft II – Shoplift, and False Information.

Police do believe that Austin Sala is the man who originally drove away in the GMC on November 1st.

APD Cases 21-35536 and 21-36199