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Search For Armed Snowmachiner Puts Quinhagak On Lockdown

Curtis Pleasant, age 30, allegedly emptied two rounds from a rifle into the ground near his father’s house, then swung himself onto his snowmachine and drove away.

A Quinhagak man’s drunken, armed snowmachine ride through town caused the village to go into lockdown Friday morning. Curtis Pleasant, age 30, was arrested and scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.

Quinhagak went on lockdown for hours this morning because Tribal Police Officers feared that Pleasant was violent.

The incident began a little before 5:00 a.m., when Curtis Pleasant’s father called the Quinhagak tribal police. He told authorities that his son had been drinking and was armed with both a high-powered rifle and a shotgun. According to Tribal Police Officer Derek Kasaiak, Pleasant emptied two rounds from the rifle into the ground near his father’s house, then swung himself onto his snowmachine and drove away.

Tribal Police Officer Jared Brown says that they weren’t sure what he’d do next. "He was angry," he said. "Pretty much he had everything going on through his mind."

Tribal Police Officers searched for Pleasant for three to five hours on Friday. They put Quinhagak on lockdown around 7:00 a.m. and told residents to stay inside and not let anyone in. According to Officer Kusaiak, they finally found Pleasant passed out next to his snowmachine at the end of Quinhagak’s airstrip, close to his father’s house.

The police took him into custody and contacted the State Troopers, then lifted Quinhagak’s lockdown around 10:00 a.m. No one in town was hurt during the incident.

Charges are pending against Pleasant. This isn’t his first run-in with law enforcement. Over the past 10 years he has pled guilty to assault, burglary, indecent exposure, and several counts of driving under the influence.