A Kenai grand jury on Wednesday, Oct. 30, indicted Alaska State Trooper Sergeant 49-year-old Joseph Miller and Alaska State Trooper 42-year-old Jason Woodruff on one count each of Assault in the First Degree. Miller and Woodruff were initially charged with Assault in the Fourth Degree on Aug. 14, 2024.
Assault in the First Degree carries a maximum sentence of 20 years to serve and a presumptive sentence of between 7 to 11 years.
In response to an email from KSRM, the Alaska Department of Law said it was “unable to comment on case specifics.”
Alaska Rules of Professional Conduct stipulates that “the prosecutor in a criminal case shall, except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused.”
Woodruff and Miller were initially charged with misdemeanor 4th-degree assault following a case of mistaken identity, where they falsely identified 37-year-old Ben Tikka of Soldotna as another individual they were seeking.
The two troopers deployed pepper spray, a taser, and a police K9 on Tikka in the process of taking him into custody.
In August, a civil rights attorney filed a civil lawsuit against the Alaska Department of Public Safety for access to body camera footage related to Tikka’s alleged assault.
Woodruff and Miller are scheduled to be arraigned in Kenai Superior Court on Nov. 12, 2024, at 2:30 p.m.