Alaska State Troopers

An Alaska State Trooper investigation found that 38-year-old Blake Distler sexually abused at least five teenage girls.

In August, the state charged Trooper Sgt. Joseph Miller Jr. and Jason Woodruff with assault over alleged conduct during their arrest of the wrong person in Kenai earlier this year.

Miller and Woodruff are facing charges over a violent arrest of the wrong person near Kenai’s Daubenspeck Park in May.

Alaska State Troopers responded to a crash Wednesday just north of the Sterling-Seward Highway interchange. Black ice was observed in the area around the time of the crash.

Hermanns’ arrest came after a family member contacted the Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s Soldotna’s Major Crimes Unit.

Forty-two-year-old Jason Woodruff and 49-year-old Joseph Miller Jr. now each face one charge of first degree assault.

It was the first time Jason Woodruff and Joseph Miller Jr. appeared in court since they were each charged with one count of misdemeanor assault.

Joseph Miller and Jason Woodruff, who’ve both been troopers for more than a decade, each face one charge of misdemeanor assault stemming from a violent arrest in May of the wrong person in Kenai.

Joseph Miller Jr. and Jason Woodruff, both state troopers based in Soldotna, are facing one count each of fourth-degree assault. Both have served as troopers for more than a decade.

As of July 3, there have been 33 traffic deaths in Alaska this year.