A woman was indicted earlier this month after authorities allegedly found heroin and methamphetamine in her airplane luggage.
On Jan. 11, Juneau Police Department officers detained Tina Renee Cousins, 50, after she had gotten off Alaska Airlines flight 61, according to charging documents. After getting a search warrant, officers searched Cousins’ carry-on bag and personal items and found 160 gross grams of what appeared to be meth and 44 gross grams of what appeared to be heroin, charging documents allege.
JPD Detective Jeff Brink wrote in his report that police also found dozens of small zip bags (referred to as dime bags) and a brand-new digital scale that Cousins had brought. Brink estimated the street value of the meth and heroin at $16,000 and $22,000, respectively. Due to the amount and the items that were found, Brink wrote that he believed the drugs were being brought to Juneau to distribute.
On Jan. 17, a Juneau grand jury indicted Cousins on two charges of second-degree drug misconduct, a class B felony. According to electronic court records, Cousins made bail and is no longer in custody.
That drug bust came just a day after police had intercepted another shipment of drugs coming through the Juneau International Airport. James Remington Elisof, 35, faces three charges of making or delivering drugs, according to electronic court records.
JPD has made an increased effort in recent years to stop the flow of drugs through the airport, Lt. Jeremy Weske said in a recent interview.
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Two men indicted in separate domestic violence assaults
On Jan. 22, a Juneau grand jury indicted a 61-year-old man on one charge of second-degree assault and two charges of third-degree assault. Second-degree assault is a class B felony, while third-degree assault is a class C felony.
The alleged assault happened on the morning of Jan. 18, according to charging documents. The report, written by JPD Officer Sean Ahshapanek, states that the victim told him the 61-year-old man picked her up and took her to his home that morning. Once she was inside, the man punched her in the face, the victim told Ahshapanek.
The man then put on his boots and told the victim, “this is how you’re going to die,” and started stomping on her head, according to Ahshapanek’s report. The 61-year-old then started to strangle the victim, according to charging documents. The victim saw an opportunity to escape when the man turned away for a moment, and she ran to the door, Ahshapanek’s report states.
The man tried to get her back into the home, but the victim said she heard someone else yelling at the man to stop, and the man went back inside his house, according to what she told Ahshapanek. Police found that the 61-year-old man has three assault convictions in the past 10 years, according to charging documents. According to electronic court records, the man is currently in custody at Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
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On Jan. 24, a Juneau grand jury indicted a 58-year-old man on two charges of third-degree assault, which is a class C felony. The call reporting the assault came at 2:42 a.m. Jan. 20 from someone who saw a woman run out of her home and ask for someone to call the police, charging documents allege.
The victim told JPD Officer C.J. Warnaca that the man — who was the victim’s husband — had put her in a chokehold after she refused to have sex with him, according to Warnaca’s report.
The victim told Warnaca that she couldn’t breathe and was scared that she was going to die, according to charging documents. Warnaca wrote that the victim had several visual abrasions on her arms and her neck was red. The man said he had gotten off the victim after she had refused to have sex, and that the victim attacked him so he put her in the chokehold to make her stop, according to Warnaca’s report.
The man, who has since turned 59, was arrested and taken to LCCC. The man has since bonded out of prison, according to electronic court records.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
