On June 2, 2018, a handgun was reported as stolen to APD.  The complainant stated she parked her SUV at Ruth Arcand Park located at 3766 Abbott Road.  When she returned to her vehicle, she discovered the window had been smashed and both her purse and her gun had been stolen.

At 7:59 PM on December 23, 2021 a swing shift patrol officer saw a Chevy Silverado, with illegally tinted windows, being driven eastbound on Commercial Drive.  The officer followed the Chevy until it pulled over on the 2000-block of E 5th Avenue.  The officer activated his patrol vehicle’s emergency lights at which time the driver, later identified as 25-year-old Kiera M. Stokes, exited out of the driver’s door, and ran into a nearby business. As the officer approached the front door of the business on foot, Stokes came back outside.  The officer contacted Stokes.  While they were having a conversation, an employee of the business Stokes had gone into came outside and asked to speak with the officer privately.  The employee informed the officer that Stokes had hidden a firearm amongst the merchandise inside the store. 

Immediately after the conversation between the officer and the employee, Stokes ran back into the business, grabbed the firearm she had hidden (the employee had not touched it), ran outside with it, and buried it in the snow on the other side of the building.  The gun was recovered by another officer who arrived on scene to assist with the investigation.

Stokes was detained; a computer check revealed that she was on probation.  APD contacted a probation officer who requested that APD conduct a probation search for weapons, drugs, and stolen property.  Pursuant to the request, officers searched both Stokes and her vehicle.  From inside the vehicle officers recovered several pills, multiple firearms, and a large sum of cash.  It was discovered that one of the weapons was the one reported as stolen from Ruth Arcand Park over three years prior.

Kiera Stokes was remanded at Hiland Correctional on the charges of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance II, Theft II, seven counts of Misconduct Involving a Weapon III – Felon in Possession, and Violate Conditions of Probation/Parole.

 APD Cases 18-22086 and 21-41680

For information on how to obtain the criminal history of any Alaskan, you may do so online via Court View on the State’s website.