Thomas Ponsolle Arrested for Assaulting an Officer

At 9:55 AM on September 20, 2023, APD officers initiated a traffic stop for a traffic violation on a 2016 white Chevy Malibu near the intersection of E 40th Avenue and Denali Street.  The vehicle’s registered owner was listed as 24-year-old Thomas D. G. Ponsolle who was on probation for multiple violent felonies.  The driver pulled over into a parking lot on the 3600-block of Denali Street.  As the two officers approached the vehicle, they verified Ponsolle was the driver and sole occupant.

Officer #1 was on the driver side of Ponsolle’s vehicle and Officer #2 was on the passenger side.  Officer #1 verbally engaged Ponsolle by identifying himself and explaining the reason for the stop.  Officer #1 then asked Ponsolle to step out of the vehicle for purposes of conducting a pat search for weapons pursuant to Ponsolle’s current probation conditions. 

Instead of following the officer’s instructions, Ponsolle quickly put the vehicle in reverse and accelerated, striking Officer #1 with the open car door.  Ponsolle continued driving backwards until he struck Officer #1’s patrol vehicle.  Ponsolle put the car in drive and sped through the parking lot at a high rate of speed.  He fled southbound on Barrow Street running two stop signs in the process.  Officers searched for Ponsolle but were unable to locate him that day.  A felony warrant was obtained for Ponsolle’s arrest for Fail to Stop, two counts of Assault III, Reckless Driving, and Violate Conditions of Release.

At 7:57 AM on September 23rd, a day shift patrol officer spotted Ponsolle’s Chevy parked in a lot on the 5300-block of Juneau Street.  While waiting for backup units to arrive, the officer saw Ponsolle exit his vehicle and get into the front passenger seat of a different white Chevy Malibu.  Once Ponsolle got into the car, the adult female driver began to drive away.  Officers conducted a traffic stop and blocked the Chevy in with their patrol vehicles.  Ponsolle refused to follow officer commands; he was removed from the passenger side of the car, escorted to the ground, and handcuffed.  Ponsolle was remanded at the Anchorage Jail on his felony warrant without further incident.

The officer who was struck by Ponsolle on September 20th is undergoing medical care for his non-life-threatening injuries.

There were two adult females at the scene when Ponsolle was detained on September 23rd.  Neither of them was charged with any crimes.

APD Case 23-30633 and 23-31017

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.