At 7:45 PM on December 26, 2022, Anchorage Police responded to the area of W 18th Avenue and Arctic Boulevard regarding the assault of a taxicab driver and the subsequent theft of his taxi.  While some officers headed to the victim driver, others began looking for the stolen taxi.  Swing shift patrol officers located the taxi being driven outbound on the Glenn Highway.  Patrol officers used driving techniques to slow the taxi down and encourage the driver to stop the vehicle.  In an attempt to evade police, the driver purposely collided with at least one police vehicle.  Ultimately the taxi became stuck between a snowbank and patrol cars near the Muldoon Road overpass.  The suspect driver, later identified as 19-year-old Grant R. Wells, attempted to drive away by spinning the taxi’s wheels.  Ultimately Wells gave up, crawled out of the taxi on the passenger side, and tried to walk away from the scene.  Wells stopped walking but was non-compliant with the multiple commands he was given.  Wells was eventually taken into custody without further incident once several other officers arrived at the scene.

Wells was remanded at the Anchorage Jail on the charges of Robbery II, Vehicle Theft I, Theft II, Criminal Mischief III, Assault IV, and Resisting.

Initial indications are that the taxi driver picked Wells up from W 5th Avenue and E Street.  During the ride, Wells punched the taxi driver in the back of the head.  Being put in fear of suffering an additional physical assault, the adult male taxi driver pulled over near W 18th Av and Arctic Boulevard and quickly got out.  Wells crawled from the back passenger seat into the driver’s seat and drove away.

The taxicab driver suffered injury from the assault but declined to have medics respond.  While nothing appeared to have been stolen from inside the cab itself, Wells did cause significant damage to the taxi’s in car camera system.

None of the officers involved in the arrest of Wells were injured.

APD Case 22-41686

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.