WILLIAM CLARK SIGHTING

This latest sighting took place Monday of last week, 23 August 2010. - S.L.


KTVA: Bizarre Con Man On Loose In Alaska




FAIRBANKS - A convicted con artist with a long history of impersonating Army officers has been up to his old tricks in Alaska, according to Fairbanks police.

A Fairbanks magistrate has issued a $100,000 arrest warrant for William James Clark, 37, on one charge third-degree weapons misconduct, or being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Fairbanks police were called to the North Star Council on Aging Monday afternoon after Clark reportedly showed a pistol to the director of the facility, Julie McCumby, and claimed to be a military police officer.

McCumby reportedly told police she believed Clark was mentally ill or an escapee from jail and that seniors were being moved out of the building and away from him, according to charging documents.

When Fairbanks police officer Joshua Lambert contacted him, Clark, a heavyset man with a blond crewcut, was smoking a cigarette while talking on his cell phone.

He had an empty handgun holster on his belt, and a loaded 9mm pistol was found in Clark's car. The gun was placed in the trunk for the safety of the officers present but not confiscated.

At the request of McCumby, Clark was issued a citation for trespassing told not to return. Officers did not take him into custody, and as Thursday night, he had not been apprehended.

While Clark has oustanding warrants in five different states, police were not aware of his history because the statewide Alaska Public Safety Information Network only listed him as a "person of interest" in a Juneau fraud and forgery case from late July and early August.

It was only after they let Clark go that officers discovered Clark's criminal history through the computerized National Crime Information Center. FPD Sgt. Eric Jewkes said that checking the NCIC is not something officers routinely do.

Juneau police spokeswoman Cindy Brown Mills would not release additional information about the department's investigation into Clark because he has not been formally charged.

It's unclear what exactly Clark was doing at the North Star Council on Aging. Because of the ongoing investigation, McCumby would not say if he was an employee or volunteer there, but said that despite Clark's lengthy record of fraud, there was no threat to the records kept there.

Monday's incident was just the latest in a long line of bizarre cases involving Clark.

Clark's most recent stint in jail ended in August 2009, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.


The STORMBRINGER Effect:

Photos and pictures making the rounds on military message boards also seem place Clark at an Aug. 7 Anchorage gun show, during which he was reportedly looking to purchase ATVs for other, fictitious soldiers.

Clark was reportedly wearing a captain's uniform with badges indicating he had special forces, ranger and airborne qualifications.

Spokespeople for the Alaska State Troopers and Anchorage police department said neither agency have had any recent contact with Clark.


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