FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Four police officers involved in a police-involved shooting at milepost 255 on the Parks Highway last year will not face charges in connection with the death of 45-year-old Michael Grimes of Fairbanks.

A review by the Office of Special Prosecutions found that Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Aaron Mobley, Trooper Scott McAfee, Trooper Trevor Norris, and John-Ashton Swope of the North Slope Borough Police Department lawfully used deadly force against Grimes on November 1, 2023.

The report also said that a self-inflicted wound led to Grimes’ death.

The incident occurred during a planned traffic stop north of Healy.

Officers had been investigating Grimes for illegal possession and sale of narcotics. They had prepared a search warrant that entitled them to search Grimes’ Dodge Ram truck, according to the Office of Special Prosecutions, and had staged a scene to stop Grimes as he drove from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

A 12-page summary of the report states that video from the scene shows Grimes firing in Sergeant Mobley’s direction after Grimes attempted to flee from police officers between mileposts 251 and 255.

The summary states that Grimes continued to attempt to elude officers, with shots apparently coming from both Grimes’ truck and Trooper Norris’ vehicle.

Grimes’ truck then reportedly came to a stop and officers exited their vehicles.

The summary states that when Grimes’ truck started moving again, the four officers fired shots at the driver’s side.

The truck stopped again, the report says. After the occupants were asked to exit the vehicle, the passenger, identified in the letter as MP, got out.

Officers arrested MP, the summary states, then approached the truck and found Grimes unconscious, bleeding from his head and with three empty pistol magazine pouches on his left side, as well as other weapon accessories.

Alaska Bureau of Investigation investigators later found two handguns in the car.

The medical examiner found that Grimes’ head wound and a corresponding impression in his baseball cap were consistent with a bullet recovered from the truck’s ceiling. The medical examiner said those circumstances were consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and, after examining the wound, ruled suicide was the cause of death.

In conversations with investigators, officers described the crime scene and said they feared for their own safety or that of their colleagues.

“The officers’ accounts of events during these interrogations were consistent with what the cameras in the car recorded,” the summary said.

Investigators also interviewed MP, who said Grimes “just pulled out his gun and started shooting,” the report said.

The review found that the officers reasonably believed that “their actions were necessary to defend themselves, other officers, or civilians against an imminent threat of serious physical harm and/or death,” and therefore criminal charges were not warranted.

Download the Newscenter Fairbanks apps today and stay up to date with the latest news and weather alerts.

All rights reserved.