NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Friday, December 9, 2005

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INCIDENTS

Lake Mead NRA

Kidnapper Killed by Metro PD SWAT Officer; Hostage Rescued Unharmed

On December 5th, park dispatch reported receiving a “be on the lookout” message for a man who'd kidnapped a woman in Las Vegas. Shortly thereafter, the kidnapper called 911 and reported that he was in the park with the hostage with the intent to kill her and commit suicide. A Metro PD helicopter located the vehicle in a remote area off North Shore Drive. Rangers and special agents responded and secured the area. A Metro SWAT team and emergency service personnel were dispatched to the area and a unified command was established. Further information from the helicopter confirmed that both the kidnapper and his hostage were in the area. Metro SWAT entered the area and located the kidnapper. Shots were fired, and medical personnel were requested. A Metro SWAT officer had shot and killed the kidnapper. The hostage was recovered unharmed. This incident is currently under investigation by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. [Mary Hinson, Deputy Chief Ranger]

Organ Pipe Cactus NM

Drug Trafficking Prison Sentence

On November 21st, a Phoenix man was sentenced to serve 78 months in federal custody by a federal district court judge. On March 4th, following a jury trial, the man was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute 255 pounds of marijuana. This conviction stemmed from the man's arrest by rangers in August, 2003. They had followed the tracks of a vehicle that had illegally entered the U.S. - and the park - from Mexico and had stopped the car on State Route 85. Although the driver claimed that he'd entered the United States legally and was in the area bird-watching, a park canine alerted to the presence of drugs in his Cadillac Escalade. Rangers searched the Cadillac and found the marijuana in a luggage compartment on the top of the car. At the trial, the man said that he'd been vacationing in Mexico and had been forced by unknown Mexicans to drive north from the international border towards Phoenix with the load of marijuana on board. The jury found that he knowingly and intentionally possessed the marijuana with the intent to distribute. The criminal investigation was conducted jointly by Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents, National Park Service rangers and a NPS special agent. (Fred Patton, Chief Ranger, and Susan Morton, Special Agent)

Big Cypress NP

Driver Drowns When Car Slides Into Canal

A fatal accident occurred on Turner River Road about six miles north of Highway 41 just afternoon on Sunday, December 4th. According the passenger, the driver was doing something to the CD player when he lost control of the vehicle. It drifted off the east side of the road, then returned to the main road when the driver attempted to recover, then slid off the road and went into a canal. The passenger got out before the car went under. He flagged down a passing vehicle towing a swamp buggy. They fastened a chain to the submerged vehicle and brought it to the surface. Two responding deputies got the driver out. EMS personnel worked on the driver for 40 minutes before determining that he was not going to recover and proclaiming him deceased. [Jon Pierce, Regional Law Enforcement Specialist]

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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