Driver slams car into Wasilla Police headquarters
No one inside the building was injured by the crash, officials said.
What you need to know:
- A man driving a black sedan slammed into the entrance of the Wasilla Police Department headquarters late Wednesday afternoon, breaking through one set of doors.
- Wasilla resident Thomas Desalvo, 41, was removed from the vehicle, arrested and remanded to the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer. He had minor injuries.
- No one was injured inside the building. Police evacuated the building and a nearby Wasilla High School softball field.
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WASILLA — A man driving a black sedan slammed into the entrance of the Wasilla Police Department headquarters Wednesday afternoon, breaking through one set of doors.
Wasilla resident Thomas Desalvo, 41, was removed from the vehicle, arrested and remanded to the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer, Wasilla Police Department spokesperson Amanda Graham said in a statement late Wednesday. He was assessed on the scene and found to have “insignificant injuries,” she said.
Desalvo is charged with three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, one count of first-degree criminal mischief, one count of third-degree criminal mischief, one count of third-degree assault, one count of fourth-degree assault and two counts of reckless endangerment, the statement said.
No one inside the building was injured, Graham said in an interview. One member of the public was in the lobby at the time of the incident, and a civilian employee was sitting at a reception desk just inside the entryway, she said.
Police station video showed the vehicle traveling around a concrete barrier, across a lawn and into the doors at about 4:45 p.m., Graham said. The vehicle did not breach a second set of doors between the entryway and the building’s reception area.
Wasilla police and Alaska State Troopers responded immediately. Police evacuated the building and a nearby Wasilla High School softball field, Wasilla Police Chief William Rapson said in an interview at the scene.
The field was scheduled to host a varsity championship softball game between Wasilla and Colony high schools shortly after 5 p.m., Wasilla High School Principal Jason Marvel said in an interview. The game has not been rescheduled, he said.
Anchorage-based FBI special agent bomb technicians and members of the Anchorage bomb squad responded and found no additional threat from the vehicle late Wednesday night.
The 20,000-square-foot Wasilla Police Department headquarters opened in 2020 and cost about $12 million to build.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com
This story was updated May 13 to include the name of the driver, a list of charges and other details released by the Wasilla Police Department.