Wanted in connection with murder, and now robbery

Aarron Settje was already a wanted man. He had five outstanding felony warrants last month and as of Feb. 1,  he has six.

Settje is wanted in connection with the Jan. 13 East Anchorage shooting death of 33-year-old Kortez Brown, who died of a single bullet wound.

Brown fought for his life for 12 hours before bleeding out. The second “person of interest,” Carleton Tarkington, turned himself in. Settje has been on the lam, something that is becoming a way of life for him.

Now the 32-year-old career criminal is wanted for a shoplifting incident that turned into a robbery at Sportsman’s Warehouse on Old Seward Highway.

So is his presumed brother Stephen James Settje, age 27. He goes by the nickname “Penchy,” and sometimes his name is spelled “Stephan.”

On Tuesday, Jan. 30, police say the Settjes went to the sporting goods store, and Aarron took some merchandise, while Stephen waited in the car. The store security personnel confronted Aarron outside the building, and Aarron yelled to his accomplice in a nearby vehicle.

That man was Stephen, police say. He got out of the vehicle and threatened the security guard with a pistol. The two drove off and no one was hurt.

Aarron Settje has had a string of run-ins with the law. In mid-October, he was charged with Class C Felony theft, and earlier that month he was charged with causing fear of injury with a weapon, also a Class C felony, as well as criminal trespass. He has an association with the Soldotna-Kenai communities and may have worked as a laborer at an asphalt company.

On Facebook a few years back, he was joking about how bad his spelling was and revealed too much information about how much dope he smoked:

“Yes yes I had much better things to learn growing up like how to roll a blunt with one hand lol or every combo for every player on mortal combat deadly alliance lol forgot them all thanx to the blunts but shit happends lol.”

Stephen has his own list of priors that go back several years. Add to them “Robbery 1- Armed with Deadly Weapon (Class A Felony), which is what he’s being sought for now.

When caught, both will be run through the risk assessment tool now being used by the courts and corrections system. If they score a 1-9, they’ll be released to await trial. Only if they score a 10 will they need to cool their heels in jail.

With their combined string of reckless disregard for the law, corrections officers could be forgiven for just awarding them a 10 and keeping them away from the rest of Alaskans. But first things first, they are armed and dangerous; do not approach them. Call Police Dispatch at 786-8900 (press “0” to speak with an operator). To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP or online at www.anchoragecrimestoppers.com.