Felony Suspect Is Arrested after Trying to Flee

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Category: News

Created on Friday, 17 January 2025 16:13

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By Sentinel Staff
    Adam J. Fondell, 37, of Sitka was arraigned this morning on three felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree. Bail was set at $200,000.
    Fondell was arrested at 6 p.m. Thursday in a drug interdiction operation by Sitka police and the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs regional task force.

Adam Fondell, left, sits next to Public Defender Alice Julia Graves, center, and April McLaughlin this morning in the Sitka Courthouse during an arraignment hearing in front of Magistrate Judge Pamela Stahla-Kernin.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

    A second suspect, April R. McLaughlin, 38, was arrested separately and charged with one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree. Her bail was set at $60,000.
    In a press release, Sitka Police Department said three SPD officers and members of the drug task force were attempting to arrest Fondell at his residence on Etolin Way, when he fled in a Dodge Ram truck, striking one officer and a marked patrol vehicle, and nearly striking other officers.
    One officer discharged a single shot at the truck, but the bullet hit the wall of an unoccupied residence, police said.
    After abandoning the truck, Fondell started running, and was immediately apprehended in the Sitka High School parking lot, police said.
    No serious injuries were reported police said. They identified the drug involved as methamphetamine.
    The truck was impounded.
    The arraignment today was before Magistrate Judge Pamela Stahla-Kernin. Fondell’s legal counsel was on speaker-phone. McLaughlin was represented by public defender Alice Julia Graves.
    At the time of his arrest Fondell was on probation from his Dec. 30 sentencing on a plea of guilty to Aug. 27, 2023, charges of burglary, assault in the fourth degree and criminal mischief. He also was sentenced on the Aug. 21, 2023, charges of criminal mischief in the fourth degree and violating a protective order.