Teen arrested after high-speed chase near Delta Junction
Published Monday, April 7, 2008
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Stumble It!A teenager led Alaska State Troopers on a brief high-speed chase Saturday night south of Delta Junction. Troopers eventually arrested the teen on felony evasion charges.
The chase started at around 8:40 Saturday night when a trooper tried to stop the driver of a 1998 red Honda Prelude for driving without a front bumper, Sgt. Rick Roberts said.
When the driver, later identified as 17-year-old Ruslan Shapoval, took off instead of stopping, the trooper followed the car, leading to a high-speed chase along the Richardson Highway with speeds reaching close to 120 miles an hour, Roberts said.
After about 16 miles, Shapoval stopped “once he realized the trooper wasn’t going to go away,” Roberts said.
Community Discussion
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In the old days....Dad would have given him a serious azzzzz-whoopin' and that would be that. Poor kid might not have a dad. Or has actually out-grown him. Now it's all about money. Give him to Volland our hanging judge, kid'll do 25, 30 years, parole hearing in 20.
Thats to be expected I guess. I mean he is from Little Ukraine,Alaska.
I thought teen-agers were exempt from having their names printed in police reports.
-RK
(ps. don't mistake that for a justification of his crime. Its just an observation that News Miner often ignores - when they report on news, they don't print the name of the minors involved)
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oh he has a father who lives down in Delta also. I would like to know if the car he was diving was even street legal, meaning having been totalled and then 'fixed' with a bent frame, as in a clear and clean title.
I play outside- if a 17 year old is arrested for a felony, those rules change.
i_play_outside - Failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer falls under a traffic statue, similar to driving without a license and DUI. If he were charged with other criminal offenses, his name would not be made public.
I think they ought to publish the names of kids committing crimes. How else do parents know who these kids are to keep their kids away from them? This kid should lose his driving privileges until he is at least 21 and then get them restored only if he's completed high school and all conditions of his probation, including staying out of trouble.
JB & Mt2ak - thanks for the clarification.
I wasn't aware of the difference in reporting juvenille crime.
-RK
We may report names of minors when they are available, particularly in regard to minor consuming w/dui, felonies, and serious traffic violations that put the public at great risk — or listed in relation to injury accidents. In very simplified terms, I tell people if you're old enough to possess a driver's license you're old enough to accept the public responsibility that comes with it.
The state has its own rules about releasing the names of minors (see AS 47.23.315) and it's my understanding that police and troopers form policies based on those rules. Generally, those involved in violations I've listed above are visible on public police and trooper reports and in court records.
Journalists are not bound by directions given to state entities, however. If we learn of a minor's identity outside of the legal process we make the decision whether to release the name on a case-by-case basis by weighing any number of factors.
Kelly Bostian
Managing editor
theabowman --
Last time I checked, having a high school diploma is NOT one of the prerequisites for getting a driver's license. However, maybe it should be... [lol! that's a joke]
Anyhow, my brother and a friend took my Mom's car for a "joy ride" one evening when I was young. What fun it was having the troopers show up and having to wake my mom up to speak with them in the middle of the night. They were clocked doing 100 and accelerating. He spent the night in jail (I think), but that was about it. Was it dangerous? yes. Did it warrant extended jail time and additional punishments? I don't really think so.
Kelly, sounds fair to me!
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I didn't realize driving without a bumper was a violation. I mean seriously, don't they have criminals to catch?
brialaska, I do not understand this mentality that local police should not do traffic enforcement. The legislature (not the police) have set certain standards about how people should drive (speeding, using their signals, etc.) and how safe cars should be (mirrors, headlights, taillights, clear windshields, window tint, bumpers, etc.) The cops are bound by law to enforce these standards, in the interest of safety for the public. With no standards, there would be rattle traps going down the road with no lights, (or people with too much time on their hands that have lights in a zillion different colors), stuff falling off, no bumpers, etc. The standard has to be set somewhere, and the legislature has set that standard. It is not up to the cops to pick and choose what the laws are or what laws to enforce. The certainly have discretion, and I hope that they use it, but to ignore every equipment violation is the same as not having any equipment standards in the first place, and that is a very slippery slope indeed.
And yet, chelly, they regularly pick and choose which laws to enforce or not.
Texas Hold'em allowed at some bars, busted at others.
Brothels that are ignored for decades, then are suddenly busted.
Strict enforcement of cigarette and liquor sales using undercover officers, but little to no busting of drug dealers using the same methods.
Emphasis on busting traffic violations while not even having a property theft unit.
.... and the list goes on and on ....
Valid point chelly! I think they should enforce all laws as necessary and prudent. Unfortunately the people of Alaska do not see fit to adequately fund law enforcement in the state. As such our troopers are left to spend their time enforcing laws which they can actually recover a portion of the cost to enforce. A DUI stop costs the state relatively little, but there are high fines imposed. Troopers could spend countless man-hours TRYING to catch a thief, most likely wouldn't, and it would all be at a loss of money to the state (or municipal government). I do not at all mean to say that this is correct, but it is something to consider.
As for the kid, unless he is a sociopath he knew what he was doing was wrong, and he was endangering the lives of others on the road by his CHOICE of actions. I think he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law! If he is a sociopath, he REALLY needs help and to be removed from the public anyway.
Newsreader, I am at a loss regarding your comments about the texas hold'em and the cigarette/underage enforcement with undercover officers. Did I miss something in the paper? Please enlighten me.
AKFshrmn, while you and I seem to agree on our view of law enforcement, you said some things that are not correct. As has been mentioned on these pages before, law enforcement does not reap any monetary rewards from the crimes the enforce/tickets they write. That money goes into the general fund, and has no connection to a department's budget. Ask any lawmaker. I absolutely do not believe that any department should base its enforcement decisions on monetary rewards. Apparently the lawmakers agree, because they do not allow departments to profit from their enforcement actions. I think that would allow for way too much abuse.
i live in tok and travel to fairbanks an average of once a month...i am amazed there was a trooper out to catch him at all...i have seen troopers prob twice in the last year and they are never around when you get the guy passing you at 100+ mph where there are double yellow lines...(which we seem to encounter at least once a trip)...scares me to think that innocent people could get caught in the middle of a chase over a car without a bumper...dont they have APSIN the ability to identify the R/O without putting lives at stake on our hiways..
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