Snowmobile theft!

[JDL]

Suspected snowmachine thief loses shoes, chase

By AMANDA BOHMAN

, Staff Writer
Police caught a 22-year-old suspected snowmachine thief after the man crashed the sled, lost his shoes and fled barefoot into waist-deep snow.

"His feet were like little blocks of ice," said Officer Gary Korshin of the Fairbanks Police Department.

Dominique L. Faulkner was treated at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital on his way to jail following the Tuesday incident, which started at Northern Power Sports at about 4:30 p.m.

Service Manager Dan Simmons was filling out a police statement about a different snowmachine theft when an employee asked Simmons if a 2005 Yamaha RX-1 had been sold. The employee pointed to a man driving away on it.

In the seven years that Simmons has been service manager, the shop has experienced snowmachine thefts, but never in broad daylight, he said.

Simmons hopped on the nearest snowmachine and gave chase.

The manager wore only jeans, a sweater and dress shoes, but there was no time to don snowmachining gear. The thief had a quarter-mile lead.

"I ran him down on the Mitchell Expressway on the ditch line," Simmons said. "I forced him into the alder trees where he flipped the sled on top of himself. ... Thank God I can ride a sled."

The thief fled on foot, even though his sneakers were knocked off during the crash.

Simmons gunned his sled in an attempt to follow the man into the deep snow, but the snowmachine was out of gas. So he ran to the highway, flagged down a passing motorist and used the person's cell phone to call 911.

About six Fairbanks police and Alaska State Trooper patrol cars responded, Simmons said.

The suspect was found hiding in some brush and made a half-hearted attempt to flee again before giving himself up, said Trooper Garrett Willis.

Faulkner, who reportedly confessed to the theft, was charged with one count of first-degree vehicle theft.

Northern Power Sports recovered both stolen snowmachines.

The other sled, also a 2005 Yamaha RX-1, was discovered missing Tuesday morning when the owner, who had brought it to the shop for service, came to pick it up.

A dog musher discovered the snowmachine wedged between some trees along trails off Farmers Loop on Wednesday morning, Simmons said.

Both sleds have about $500 worth of damage, he said.

Hope he rots in jail!