An Alaska State Trooper serving on active duty with the Alaska National Guard has been arrested and charged with two felony counts of illegal use of a computer.
Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Douglas Alexander appeared in Anchorage jail court on Thursday, wearing a special orange jumpsuit, often given to inmates – including criminally accused law enforcement officials – who need to be segregated from other inmates.
A state Department of Public Safety spokesperson says Alexander is an Alaska State Trooper but had been granted routine extended leave of absence to serve full time in the Guard. Alexander was assigned to the Guard’s Provost Marshal Office.
According to a charging document filed in court by the state’s Office of Special Prosecutions, someone contacted troopers earlier this month saying Alexander was stalking his on-again, off-again girlfriend.
The charges say Alexander accessed the woman’s smart watch and phone without her knowledge — once taking the watch off her wrist while she was sleeping, and again, allegedly, by going into her home without her permission. The charges say Alexander found information on her devices indicating she was in a separate relationship with another man. Alexander was allegedly trying to thwart a relationship between the woman and the person who contacted troopers.
The charges say that, in a recorded conversation with the woman, Alexander told her he wanted her to “have to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life.”
In court Thursday, Alexander said he would hire his own attorney. Two uniformed Guard members said they were there to pick him up after the hearing.
The Department of Public Safety says Alexander is still currently employed as a trooper, and due to personnel rules, a spokesperson could not comment further.
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him atcgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Caseyhere.
