A state investigation released Wednesday found that three Alaska State Troopers and a North Slope Borough detective were justified in shooting a 45-year-old Fairbanks man during a chaotic confrontation last fall near Healy that included a chase and an exchange of gunfire.

According to the Office of Special Prosecutions’ review, the four police officers did not hit Michael Grimes on November 1. Grimes shot himself, they say.

The 12-page report was sent Friday to Colonel Maurice Hughes, the superintendent of police, and Chief Jeffrey Brown of the North Slope Borough Police Department. The report included a detailed account of the confrontation between law enforcement and Grimes before his death.

The Fairbanks Areawide Narcotics Team had planned to stop Grimes as he drove north on Parks Highway because police suspected he was selling drugs, the investigation said. The team, which included the North Slope Borough police detective, assumed Grimes and his passenger would be armed and deemed the traffic stop “high risk” due to Grimes’ violent past. They requested assistance from a criminal investigations unit and other police officers.

Officers attempted to stop Grimes near mile 251 outside of Healy and deployed additional officers and tire pressure reducers further down the highway, the investigation said. Grimes initially pulled over to the side of the road but then fled at a high rate of speed after colliding with a police officer’s vehicle, the investigation said.

His truck lost speed after hitting the tire pressure monitors about four miles away, the report said. Officers attempted to ram Grimes’ truck with their vehicles to stop him, at which point Grimes fired at Sergeant Aaron Mobley, the report said. He continued to flee and Officer Trevor Norris shot at him through the window of his patrol car, the report said. During the pursuit, Grimes reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, the report said.

(The first bodycam footage from the Anchorage Police Department is here. The reactions are mixed.)

Numerous officers got out of their vehicles and took cover when Grimes’ vehicle stopped, the report said. Officers Scott McAfee, Norris and Mobley, as well as North Slope Borough Police Department Detective John-Ashton Swope, all fired shots at Grimes’ truck as it started moving again, the report said. It stopped and officers ordered the occupants to get out.

A woman in the passenger seat exited the vehicle and was arrested, the report said. Officers removed Grimes from the vehicle, but he was unresponsive, the report said.

Investigators and the medical examiner concluded that Grimes committed suicide, the report said.

When searching the truck, investigators found a large quantity of drugs, the report said. No information was given about the quantity and type of drugs.

They later interviewed a member of Grimes’ family, who said Grimes had previously told them he would not go back to prison and the family was “concerned that ‘suicide by cop’ was a very possible course of action if he was ever caught by police,” the report said.

This is the second recently released Office of Special Prosecutions investigation into a fatal confrontation involving Alaska State Troopers. The state agency ruled last month that an officer was justified in using force in a separate shooting outside a Tok Motel in November. After the state’s determination, troopers released dashboard camera video of the shooting.