Evan Blodgett facing 11 criminal charges after trying to stab an officer during an OUI arrest

At 8:42 PM on February 19, 2022, a citizen called APD Dispatch to report a hit and run crash.  The caller stated her vehicle had been struck by another car near Arctic Road and Dimond Boulevard.  The at-fault driver did not stop; the citizen victim followed the suspect driver to the dead-end of W 88th Avenue near Vernon Street.   The victim stated she spoke with the suspect; she believed the suspect was intoxicated.

Officers arrived at the scene; they conducted Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) on 25-year-old Evan M. Blodgett after noticing signs of impairment. At the conclusion of the tests, the decision was made to charge Blodgett with Driving under the Influence.  The officers informed Blodgett he was under arrest for DUI, and as they were reaching towards him to place the handcuffs, Blodgett pulled away. 

Blodgett aggressively fought with both officers.  The officers forced Blodgett to the ground to stop the fight. During the intense struggle, Blodgett tried pulling items off an officer’s duty belt to include the officer’s gun.  Blodgett produced a dagger-style knife and tried to stab one of the officers in the upper body.  The second officer saw the motion and was able to control Blodgett’s knife hand which stopped the potentially fatal act.  As Blodgett continued to physically struggle, the officers held Blodgett down until backup units arrived.  Prior to the cover units getting to the scene, police gave a pepper spray warning which went ignored.  An officer deployed pepper spray to subdue Blodgett.

Once Blodgett had been handcuffed, and he quit fighting, police conducted a pat search in which they found multiple knives. Officers treated Blodgett for the pepper spray exposure until medics arrived to further treat him.  When medics were finished, Blodgett was transported to the Anchorage Jail; he remained belligerent throughout the entire drive.  Blodgett continued his uncooperative behavior and he refused to provide a breath sample.  Subsequent to a search warrant being obtained, Blodgett’s blood was drawn.  Blodgett was combative; officers had to hold Blodgett down on a mat on the jail’s floor to allow the phlebotomist to withdraw the blood.

Anchorage Jail medical staff requested that Blodgett be transported to a hospital for a medical release.  When that was completed, Blodgett was remanded at the Anchorage Jail on the charges of Criminal Mischief V, two counts of Violate Conditions of Release, two counts of Assault III, Resisting, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, DUI, two counts of Assault I, and Refusal.

Blodgett had open cases with Adult Probations.  Once of Blodgett’s conditions of release was that he was not allowed to carry knives on his person.

APD Case 22-5736

There were several witnesses to the fight between officers and the suspect.  Police are grateful to those witnesses for staying on scene and providing detailed statements of what they saw.