Crewmember Arrested After Armed Confrontation in Sitka Harbor

[Brief] Police in Sitka, Alaska made an arrest Monday night after receiving reports of an armed, confrontational man aboard a vessel in Sitka's Thomsen Harbor. 

At about 2015 hours Monday night, the Sitka Police Department received a call reporting that an intoxicated man was on board a vessel, brandishing a knife and making deadly threats directed at his crewmates and others nearby. He was also reported to be in possession of a firearm. 

When officers arrived at the boat, they tried to make contact with the individual, identified as Nicholas Bryant, 30. According to the department, Bryant was found inside the vessel "in an aggravated and confrontational state." He allegedly threatened the lives of the officers and anyone in the vicinity. 

Bryant refused to exit the vessel or to follow the officers' instructions, but after they put a single round of pepper gas on deck, he came out and surrendered without further incident, the department reported. He was arrested and charged with two felony counts of "terroristic threatening in the second degree" and two felony counts of third degree assault.

All four counts are class C felonies under Alaskan state law. A defendant convicted of a class C felony may be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison (limited to a maximum of two years for a first offense).