The Eagle River man who led Alaska State Troopers on a chase from Kasilof to Hope as well as spurred a subsequent man hunt was arraigned in Kenai Superior Court today.
Andre Tanner appeared telephonically from the Cook Inlet Pretrial Facility in Anchorage, reveiwing his charges with Superior Court Judge Carl Bauman.
For the charge of Class C Felony of failure to stop at the direction of an officer Tanner faces 3 – 5 years in prison. He also is charged with two Class A misdemeanors for false identification and reckless driving along with a Class B misdemeanor for disorderly conduct and creating hazardous conditions.
A not guilty plea was entered for Tanner and he was determined to be eligible for a public defender.
According to Tanner he was also already arraigned in the Mat-Su and Anchorage courts.
The next Kenai court date was scheduled for May 11 @ 2:30 and trial was set for the week of June 22.
Those charges stem from February 28 when Tanner was first contacted by an Alaska Wildlife Trooper at Kasilof’s Centennial Lake area.
According to Trooper reports, Tanner appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and gave the officer a false name, then left the parking lot in his silver Honda Civic at a high rate of speed and proceeded through the Tustumena area at a speed of about 80 miles per hour.
While multiple Troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on his vehicle, Tanner eluded them at high rates of speed, continuing north from Soldotna towards Anchorage on the Sterling Highway.
After losing sight of the vehicle, Troopers re-initiated the pursuit around mile 42 of the Seward Highway(15 miles north of the Anchorage turn off) and ended the pursuit for public safety by using a spike strip.
Tanner then fled on foot into the woods around mile 52 of the Seward Highway.
U.S. Marshals arrested Tanner on March 3 in Wasilla.