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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Thursday, June 22, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Yellowstone NP Follow-up on Arrest of Fugitives On Wednesday, June 14th, rangers arrested two men who were wanted for a bank robbery in Oskaloosa, Iowa (for the original report, click on the link below). On June 16th, the two men appeared before a federal magistrate in the park for a removal hearing on federal bank robbery charges that had been filed in Iowa. They were remanded to the custody of the US Marshal's Service and taken to the appropriate Iowa judicial district to face these charges. The charges stemming from their time in the park - assault on an officer, DUI, hit and run, and property damage - will be transferred by the US Attorney's Office in Yellowstone to a district court in Iowa. NPS special agents, FBI agents in Des Moines, and Oskaloosa PD investigators determined that the two men, wearing ski masks and armed with sawed-off shotguns, robbed the Oskaloosa bank of $183,000 in cash on May 10th, then fled west and spent time in at least five NPS areas (including about a week at Grand Canyon) and in Las Vegas before being caught in Yellowstone. Yellowstone NP rangers and agents recovered a substantial amount of the money taken in the robbery, but it appears that the two men spent a lot of it. The investigation continues. [Brian Smith, Special Agent in Charge, Intermountain Region] HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=2636" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=2636 Gateway NRA Arson Deemed Likely in Garage Fire at Sandy Hook On the evening of Sunday, June 18th, the Sandy Hook Unit fire brigade responded to a report of a fire in the garage at one of the historic officer row houses in Fort Hancock. A small fire had been started in the northeast corner of the garage, consisting of trash paper, plastic soda bottles and leaves. The fire was easily extinguished but could have been a problem if not detected and reported by a park visitor. Damage was limited to some soot on the masonry wall of the garage. This house is unoccupied and the utilities are turned off. It appears the fire was intentionally set. Visitation was high in the park on Sunday and there were many people wandering around the officer row buildings. [Bruce Lane] Fort Scott NHS Theft of Historic Weapon A park volunteer reported the theft of a personally-owned firearm stored in his tent during the park's Mexican War encampment on Saturday, June 3rd. The weapon is described as being an original 1857 Belgian-made French Civil War-style pin fire 7mm revolver with a fully engraved blued finish and checkered walnut grips. The gun has a folding trigger and Lege proof marks. There is no serial number. The firearm was taken from a locked trunk. The keys to the trunk had been left in a desk drawer in the tent. The owner valued the weapon at between $600 and $1,000. [Kelly Collins, Chief Ranger] Roosevelt-Vanderbilt NHS Significant Vandalism Significant malicious damage to an urn on a pedestal at the Vanderbilt mansion was discovered on the morning of June 18th. The urn was so severely damaged that it's doubtful that it can be either repaired or conserved. The urn is believed to be from the 19th century and original to the mansion's west portico. The value of the urn has been placed at $4,800. [Cathy Newhard, Assistant Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: Construction begins on new park on the Potomac River in Georgetown, will be part of NPS: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4570" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4570 Olympic's draft GMP is out for public comment: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4574" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4574 Yavapai Observation Station at Grand Canyon reopens after renovations: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4571" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4571 Lake Mead chief ranger Dale Antonich retires on June 30th: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1265" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1265 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |