Alaska State Trooper personnel and equipment traveled from Soldotna to Seward yesterday evening with lights and sirens blaring. A spokesperson, however, says there was never any threat to public safety, and the troopers were on their way to provide backup to an arrest.
Residents from Soldotna to Seward theorized about the incident on social media, as a convoy of state trooper vehicles raced east on the Sterling Highway.
Trooper spokesperson Austin McDaniel said those vehicles were on their way to Seward, to help troopers there execute a warrant. The state trooper’s peninsula headquarters are in Soldotna, but McDaniel said the patrol area is large and situations like yesterday’s require equipment and personnel to travel around the peninsula.
McDaniel said despite rumors on social media, there was not a riot at the Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward that resulted in inmates escaping, nor was there a shooting on a cruise ship. He said there was never any danger to the public, and peninsula residents should know that if there were a threat, troopers would communicate that via their social media.
Because no arrests were made, McDaniel said he was unable to share details about who troopers tried to arrest, or why the level of equipment and personnel was required.
