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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office Day/Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 INCIDENTS 01-501 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Follow-up: Major Felony Arrest; Attempted Assault on Rangers Around 5:40 a.m. on September 7th, ranger Keith Gad noted that a pickup truck was parked out of bounds (camping outside a designated campground) in a pullout in Hayden Valley and stopped and contacted the three occupants - T.O., P.E. and a female juvenile. While in the midst of the contact, he received word that a vehicle check done on the 1996 Black Chevy pickup showed that it was stolen and that the occupants were armed, dangerous and wanted for multiple violent crimes in Minnesota. While Gad awaited backup, the trio fled in the pickup. This led to a major interagency manhunt that lasted twelve hours and involved NPS rangers and agents, park and county SWAT teams, and officers from five surrounding agencies. All three were found and arrested by the Gallatin County SWAT team, which included rangers Tim Reid and Jesse Farias. The crimes the threesome had committed before arriving in the park included several residential burglaries and vehicle thefts, multiple attempted homicides, and thefts of at least seven firearms. Inside the park, the trio committed crimes that included burglary, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted assault and carjacking, and an attempted assault on Gad. Investigation revealed that one of the trio had cocked and pointed a Ruger .357 after the initial contact with Gad and was waiting for him to return to their truck. He also told the other two that he was going to shoot Gad. On January 8th, P.E. was sentenced in federal court in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for crimes committed inside the park, including burglary, transporting a stolen firearm across state lines, and transporting a stolen vehicle. Under the terms of the plea agreement, P.E. was sentenced to 140 months in federal prison. NPS special agent Dan Kirschner was the case agent and worked extensively with the U.S. Attorney's Office and investigators from New Brighton, Minnesota. The second defendant will be sentenced later this month. [Brian Smith, SSA, YELL, 1/11] OPERATIONAL NOTES Internet Shutdown Status Report - Progress continues on efforts to restore full Internet connectivity to the National Park Service. Recent developments include the following: • The NPS park reservation system is back on line and fully operational.• NPS law enforcement personnel have been authorized by DOI to use NPS-provided dial-up modems for the express purpose of accessing the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC). The authority is subject to specific limitations, which are outlined in a January 15th memorandum from the Service's chief information officer to all regional directors.• DOI has also authorized NPS employees, contractors and other users to utilize NPS-provided dial-up modems for the express purpose of accessing the Service's wide-area network and systems currently accessible from the NPS wide-area network. Limitations similar to those placed on NCIC access are in effect, and were outlined in a January 14th memo to regional directors from the chief information officer.The Servicewide system certifications required by the court should all be filed by Friday and will then go to DOI. The Department will then present all NPS and other agency certifications to the court for review; the court will in turn check with the plaintiff to see if the certifications are satisfactory. The time required for this process can not be accurately estimated at this point. [Editor] * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |