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VPO Is Assaulted in Elim While Responding to Burglary

A landscape of an Alaska village in late evening.

On May 25, Alaska State Troopers responded to a burglary in Elim, where two suspects allegedly assaulted the Village Police Officer (VPO).

Elim VPO Wyatt Saccheus responded to a burglary call at the Alaska Air National Guard Armory at around midnight on the 25th. That’s according to trooper spokesperson Ken Marsh. At that time, the VPO encountered 37-year-old Theodore Saccheus and 20-year-old Nicole Saccheus, both of Elim. The suspects reportedly attacked the VPO by biting, punching, and “intentionally smearing their blood on him.” Marsh says the suspects also threw a fire extinguisher at VPO Saccheus.

Troopers received the call just after 6am and arrived in the village at 12:25pm. AST arrested both suspects on charges of burglary, assault on a police officer, and criminal mischief. The trooper dispatch shows Theodore Saccheus was also charged with resisting arrest and indecent exposure.

Trooper Spokesman Ken Marsh says that the National Guard armory is used as a storage facility and living quarters but was not occupied at the time of the burglary. Troopers determined the suspects were not seeking shelter in the armory but that alcohol was a factor in the incident.

VPO Wyatt Saccheus received treatment for minor injuries at the Elim clinic. Both suspects were remanded to Anvil Mountain Correctional Center and have preliminary hearings at the Nome Courthouse this Wednesday, June 5. The troopers were unable to confirm any relationship between the three people involved.

Image at top: Elim, Alaska, circa 1993. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, shared via Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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