On December 3, 2022, A Fairbanks Jury convicted 2 people for defrauding a Nenana Elder of her home. In 2019 a TCC VPSO was contacted by the Nenana Elder Center who reported an elder signed papers she was not familiar with and she was confused as to why someone else now owned her home. The Nenana VPSO conducted an investigation in conjunction with the Alaska State Troopers Commercial Crimes Unit out of Anchorage. They found the two women garnered the victims trust and offered to pay her back taxes she owned on her home. The Nenana VPSO’s investigation revealed the City of Nenana had a tax exemption for elders which the victim qualified under so no taxes were owed on the elder’s home. The commercial crimes Investigator along with the TCC VPSO gathered enough evidence to have the 2 women convicted by Jury.
On 12/10/22, Alaska State Troopers Dispatch received a call from a woman reporting her husband had left a suicide note and was missing. The Nenana VPSO Sgt responded and began a search of the community eventually locating the husband in a highway pullout. The man pulled out a handgun and indicated he was going to shoot himself in the head. The VPSO was able to create dialogue with the suicidal man and convinced him to surrender the handgun and go to the hospital for mental health and other medical treatment.
After the incident the VPSO continued to check on the victim to insure he was doing well.
This is just an example of the exemplary work conducted daily by VPSO Sgt Mark Haglin which often goes unnoticed outside of the small EMS and Law Enforcement circle in Nenana.
VPSO Sgt Haglin deserves recognition and commendation for his work, and I hope TCC and the VPSO program can use his example to inspire others to follow likewise.