An Anchorage police officer has been charged with operating under the influence.
The Anchorage Police Department announced the arrest in a statement on Monday.
At around 8:17 a.m. on Nov. 19, officials say a caller reported a car in a ditch near the 5400 block of Lake Otis Parkway. The caller also reported that a man had walked away from the vehicle, and appeared to be impaired, police said in the statement
Officers later identified the man as Aaron Richwine, a patrol officer and 11-year veteran of the police department. Officers determined the vehicle belonged to Richwine and found him at a nearby residence. He was off-duty at the time, the statement said.
Police say Richwine was arrested, processed and released on bail. Richwine is set to make his next court appearance on Jan. 23. Police say he is currently on administrative leave, pending an APD administrative investigation and legal proceedings.
In response to a request for more information on Richwine’s charges, an APD spokeswoman said, “He was released and information will show up after his appearance in January.”
This is the second reported instance in the past year of an Anchorage police officer being arrested for illegally operating a vehicle while under the influence. Last December, officer Ethan Copeland was arrested and charged with operating under the influence and possessing a firearm while drunk on Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson. He was off-duty at the time and driving his patrol car. His arrest was made public a month later. Copeland later resigned from the police department, and state prosecutors declined to charge him with a crime.
The police statement Monday said the department “committed to making the arrests of its officers known to the public” after Copeland’s arrest.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
