After a seven-day trial, a Homer jury delivered a guilty verdict against 61-year-old Bret Herrick for an incident that took place on Aug. 23, 2021, in Anchor Point.
Herrick had been spotted outside the Warehouse Grocery Store in Anchor Point by an employee of the Alaska State Troopers.
The trooper recognized Herrick, who had active arrest warrants against him. Aware that Herrick was known to carry weapons and was prohibited by court-ordered conditions of release from possessing any, Alaska State Troopers responded to the scene to apprehend him.
Upon the trooper’s arrival at the Warehouse, an attempt was made to place Herrick under arrest. However, he resisted and attempted to flee.
During the struggle, Herrick drew a concealed pistol and fired five shots, striking the Trooper Bruce Brueggeman. He then turned his weapon toward a second trooper, who was just arriving at the scene. Herrick managed to escape into the nearby woods.
Sergeant Daniel Cox ran over to help Trooper Brueggeman. Cox handed a tourniquet to a bystander and instructed him to place it on the trooper’s arm. Cox then radioed for emergency medical personnel, supplied details on how they could arrive safely, and gave updates on Brueggemann’s condition. The downed trooper was transported to the hospital and eventually airlifted to a trauma center.
Herrick was apprehended after an all-night manhunt.
The following day, an emergency room doctor informed the Alaska State Troopers that had a tourniquet not been placed on Trooper Brueggemann’s arm, he would have died.
In addition to the attempted murder charge, the jury found Herrick guilty on all other counts brought against him, including three counts of assault in the first degree, one count of assault in the third degree for raising his weapon towards the second trooper, escape in the second degree, resisting arrest, and two counts of violating conditions of release by possessing a firearm and a bayonet, both of which violated the court’s conditions ordering him to refrain from possessing weapons.
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the relentless efforts of our Alaska State Trooper Investigators, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and all those involved in the emergency response and investigation that led to this conviction,” said Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell. “Their unwavering commitment to justice has ensured this perpetrator will be held accountable for his actions. Since Trooper Brueggeman was shot, we have witnessed a remarkable outpouring of support from our community members has been truly humbling. The unwavering support and solidarity shown by Alaskans during these trying times have been a beacon of hope for all of us. Let this conviction be a testament to our determination to uphold the rule of law, protect those who protect us, and ensure that acts of violence against law enforcement will not go unpunished,” said
Herrick’s sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 1. The severity of the crimes committed carries potential penalties of 7 to 99 years for the attempted murder charge. He could face up to five years for assault in the third degree, up to 10 years for escape in the second degree, and a maximum of 90 days for each violation of the conditions of release convictions.
Back in 2013, Herrick had a similar encounter with law enforcement. Herrick pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and two counts of fourth-degree assault, after fighting with Alaska State Troopers who were arresting him for a previous crimes relating to bursting into a home on East Skyline Drive, threatening people in the home, and forcing someone to drive to an ATM to withdraw money.
The 2013 altercation with Troopers also took place outside a store in Anchor Point, and, like the incident in 2021, Herrick was also identified by a Trooper who just happened to be at the store to get a snack.
In the 2013 incident, Herrick pulled no weapon. He was sentenced to 1,080 days in jail, with 860 suspended, leaving him with just 220 days to serve. But with an adjusted sentence, he was quickly released from Wildwood Pretrial Facility in Kenai.
Sounds like Alaska isn’t keeping people in jail like they should be.
Alaska is catch and release where dirtbags are concerned.
That dude will at last be able to get off the meth though. He appears to have the bugs pretty bad.
Alaska is bigtime catch and release. Read the AST Dispatches and when someone does something especially noteworthy, look up their history in Courtview.
There are still some offenses requiring cash bail, but unless it involves sexual assault.or murder, pretty much NOPE.
Violate your court ordered Conditions of Release? Not even arrest unless it’s DV. If you are charged, it may be with a summons…if it’s an arrest…another O R.
It is even worse than that.
Most misdos, dv excluded, are OR release. Meaning they walk right back out of jail.
VCORS and most other warrants are seen by magistrates that don’t care about the underlying case or repeated violations. They might get a nominal bail then released.
Almost everything is resolved via plea deal. It normally drops the severity of the main count by at least one degree and dismisses the other counts.
Similarly appalling, a lot of these newly convicted felons are then ordered back out on delayed remands. Unsurprisingly, they never show up to serve their multi year sentences.
Sometimes they’ll play games and extend it out by months. Most delayed remands right now will first use “fishing to get food” followed by “being a good father and taking the kids to the fair” then “helping grandma get ready for winter” then the holidays. All the whole, they are still committing crimes until they are caught on a new charge.
I had a stupid warrant when I got pulled over for speeding I got busted for it all. During the process I was polite to the officer & put myself in his shoes during the process, he allowed me to park my truck in a safe spot, before he took me to see a judge then the judge wrote forgiven on my paperwork & let me go. I was shocked to be given a break it could of been lots lots worse to this day I treat law enforcement with the utmost respect. I only hope after many many many many years in prison this ungrateful prick finds himself alone & very miserable. To the families of our peace officers I pray GOD comforts your hearts & minds HOME OF THE BRAVE.
Attitude matters bigtime.
An arrest warrant is a Command by a judge to law enforcement to arrest someone, not a request.
Plus, remember, most Troops see alot more of humanity in their worst moments during their careers than normal people would see in ten lifetimes.
Troopers, at least the older ones, have a concept of what people are going through. Still have a job to do though.
With you on that OI.
Would have been a lot cooler if the Troopers could have saved the tax payers some money with some well planted freedom seeds.
That’s very much contrary to the original concept of “correction” v. punishment.
The concept of correcting individuals, whether pie in the sky or no, is very much a Christian concept. The hope was that prisons would become places where society could secure people into a place where they could become “corrected” in their behavior and eventually rejoin society as contributive members.
We don’t have “life” sentences in Alaska, per se. We do, on very rare occasion, have sentences for folks that do extend beyond what a person would be expected to live, but even then, it’s still more of a place to secure society against those individuals than punish them.
Most cons and ex-cons I’ve met consider Alaska “easy time” v. serving sentences in other states.
Please tell me what you envision as a ‘more Christian’ sentiment and how it applies to one human trying to kill another human. I’ll wait.
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