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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, December 20, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Great Smoky Mountains NP Teenager Injured In Serious Fall From Tower On the afternoon of December 14th, D.H., 18, of Brentwood, Tennessee, fell about 30 feet from the Look Rock Tower, sustaining serious injuries. D.H. and three other teenagers had walked up the ramp to the top of the tower to take photos from the observation deck. The ramp has three landings on the way to the top. While returning, they stopped on the lower landing, which is about 30 feet from the ground. D.H., responding to a challenge from one of his friends, climbed up on the concrete railing, then jumped to the lower, sloping concrete railing while his friends took photos of him. The distance between the two railings is about five feet. D.H. twice jumped successfully from one ramp the other; on the third attempt, though, his foot apparently caught on the railing as he jumped, causing him to miss the second railing. D.H. hung onto the railing for a brief moment, then slipped and fell to the bottom, hitting the concrete railing at the bottom of the tower and coming to rest on the concrete ramp. He suffered severe head trauma, a fractured pelvis, four fractured ribs, and damage to the ligaments in both arms. D.H. was flown by air ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he remains in ICU in critical condition. [Rick Brown, Assistant Chief Ranger] Yellowstone NP Felony Arrest For Weapons, Ammunition Possession On August 4, 2004, rangers at Mammoth arrested a man for driving while his license was suspended and for not having insurance. As per normal procedure, they towed and impounded his vehicle. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a weapon and ammunition that had been in the driver's possession. Over the next year and a half, NPS special agents worked the case and developed information showing that the man had engaged in a criminal conspiracy and witness tampering and that he had purchased a firearm via a third party (a “straw purchase”) though prohibited from possessing a gun because he was a convicted felon. In July, the park's special response team, supported by ATF agents, deputy U.S. marshals and officers from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, executed a search warrant at the man's residence in Bozeman. There they found evidence of additional violations of the US Code section prohibiting felons from owning weapons and ammunition (18 USC 922(g)). A federal grand jury issued a true bill and indicted the man on related felony charges in October. The indictment stemmed from the original Yellowstone arrest. The man remains in local custody on unrelated charges and has a marshal's detainer against him for eventual transfer to Casper, Wyoming. The investigation and prosecution were conducted with support from the “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program in the Wyoming U.S. Attorney's Office. [Brian Smith, Special Agent in Charge] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: Hawaii Volcanoes - A 55-acre lava bench is on the verge of collapsing into the ocean. Safety and Occupational Health - A safety alert has been issued for a particular shotgun ammunition. FLETC - The ranger honor guard is accepting applications for new members. SERO - Resource specialist John Beck is to retire. To link to InsideNPS, click on HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |