Anchorage,AK : Stolen delivery truck crashes into Church of Love in Spenard on December, Monday 4th 2017

A man is accused of crashing a stolen delivery truck into the side of the Church of Love on Spenard Road Monday afternoon, just after ramming a parked police car, Anchorage police say.

The man, identified as Derek Burkett, 27, is also accused of stealing a different vehicle elsewhere in Spenard that day. At about 1:30 p.m., a police officer responded to a report of a vehicle theft at the 3400 block of Dorbrandt Street.

Burkett saw the officer and stole a truck that was making a delivery in the area, police said. He hit the parked police patrol car and later crashed into the side of the Church of Love, a former church at 3502 Spenard Road that is used for community events.

A photo from the scene shows a truck labeled "Teddy's Tasty Meats" where it crashed into the side of the church off an alley.

Tyler Robinson of Cook Inlet Housing Authority, the nonprofit housing development agency that owns the building, said he was in his office Monday afternoon when he heard a "bang." He looked outside and saw a man crawling out from underneath the truck.

The man then ran across the back lot, Robinson said. Witnesses later tracked Burkett to a driveway in the 1500 block of West 34th Avenue, where he was hiding in a different truck, police said.

Police arrested Burkett there. He faces multiple charges, including felony vehicle theft, police say.

Robinson said the truck ran into a part of the church that is used as a secondary entrance and as work studios. Nobody was injured, he said, but there does appear to be damage.

He said his organization was getting ready to announce some changes to that part of the building.

"I think we're holding off on some of those now," Robinson said.

Source :
Stolen delivery truck crashes into Church of Love in Spenard