A Sitka Grand Jury indicted one person in September for assault.

Police arrested 51-year-old Mark Wieorek after he allegedly assaulted a woman and threatened her with a handgun. During the investigation, officers learned Wieorek is a convicted felon in the state of Nevada. Police issued a search warrant, and found a semi-automatic handgun was purchased locally, though the seller claimed he had lent the gun to Wieorek for bear protection, unaware of his status as a felon.

For the incident of domestic violence, Wieorek was indicted by a grand jury on September 19 on one count of assault in the third degree, a class C felony. A trial in Wieorek’s case is scheduled for December. 

Three Sitkans were also indicted in August, one for a similar incident of domestic violence. 39-year-old Michael Angel Contreras was arrested and charged with robbery and assault. According to court documents, on August 13, Contreras pointed a gun at a woman, who reported the incident to police. Contreras was indicted by a grand jury on one count of robbery in the first degree, a Class A felony, and one count of assault in the third degree, a Class C felony. 


Also in August, police arrested 31-year-old Jorge Ruiz Rivera after allegedly harassing a couple at their home, after a protective order had been placed against him. Rivera was indicted on two counts of stalking in the first degree, a Class A felony. Hearings are scheduled for Rivera’s case in November.

And in August police arrested 35-year-old Samantha Losselyong after she allegedly stole a vehicle from the Cascade Convenience Center parking lot. Police say when they attempted to stop Losseylong driving on Sawmill Creek road, she attempted to evade them. Losselyong was indicted by a Sitka grand jury on August 8 on one count of vehicle theft in the first degree, and one count of failure to stop at the direction of an officer, both Class C felonies. A trial in her case is currently scheduled for January.

These were the first indictments in several months- it was a fairly quiet summer at the Sitka Courthouse, however two indictments from the spring ended up as felony convictions. In June, 36-year-old Nicholas Miyasato was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender, a Class C felony. And in April, 34-year-old Alida Pitre was indicted on one count of criminal mischief in the third degree, a Class C felony. Both were convicted after pleading guilty in their cases.