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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, March 27, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Rock Creek Park Accident Victim Rescued From Creek On Thursday, March 22nd, off-duty US Park Police officer Mark Asmussen was driving on Rock Creek Parkway south of Shoreham Hill when he saw what appeared to be evidence of a recent vehicle crash. Asmussen stopped and found that a vehicle had overturned and was partially submerged in the creek. He notified Park Police dispatch, then entered the creek to check the vehicle along with a citizen and FBI agent Catherine Hanna, who'd also stopped to help. The trio waded out into chest deep water. Asmussen reached into the water near the driver's door, felt an arm, and pulled out the driver. She was conscious and reported that she was the vehicle's only occupant. Asmussen brought her to shore with the help of the others and ensured that she was breathing and stable. On-duty Park Police officers soon arrived and took charge of the response. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, Public Information Officer] Badlands NP Paleontological Theft Investigation On the morning of March 18th, ranger Bryan Adams checked a vehicle that was parked near a dry streambed along Highway 240 just west of the Saddle Pass trailhead. Adams looked inside it and saw a fossil book that is commonly sold at the park visitor center. Knowing that the riverbed is a frequent target of fossil collectors, Adams began hiking up the bed, searching for the vehicle's occupants, later identified as E.G. and M.B., both 19. Adams soon came upon the two men, who were working the streambed with a rock hammer. They would periodically stop their work and use the hammer to break open rocks collected from the area, then toss the pieces down. After watching them for several minutes, Adams approached the men. When they say him coming, the man with the hammer attempted to hide it. Adams searched their persons and backpacks and recovered 30 to 40 fossil fragments and a GPS unit that M.B. and E.G. were using to plot their collection points. Additional fossils were found in the vehicle, including two large blocks of sedimentary rock containing numerous fossil fragments. It had been on the rear passenger floor, covered by a jacket. Another 10 to 15 fossil specimens were found in the vehicle's center console. All the fossils and tools were seized as evidence. Rangers have been working with park resource management specialists to determine a cost value for the seized fossils and to recover the data collection points from the GPS unit. Criminal charges have been filed. [Mark Gorman, Chief Ranger] Cape Cod NS Attempted Suicide Thwarted By Rangers Rangers Aaron Titus and Christopher Hartsgrove were on patrol on the afternoon of March 23rd when the came upon a white SUV parked in the woods on Well Fields Road in Truro. The vehicle was running and the windows were up when they contacted the lone male occupant, who was sitting in the driver's seat. Although he was conscious, he appeared to be disoriented, with a very red and flushed face and watery and bloodshot eyes. The rangers then noted that the rear hatch of the vehicle was slightly open, and that a metal dryer hose led from the exhaust into the car through the opening. The man was immediately removed from the vehicle. He admitted to trying to kill himself. A suicide note was also found on the front passenger seat. EMS personnel took him to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment. [Bill Hooper, Special Agent] OTHER NEWS The following stories can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: Servicewide - In the fall of 2009, PBS will air “The National Parks,” a major documentary film series produced and directed by Ken Burns and written and produced by Dayton Duncan. Old home movies of the parks are being sought for use in the series. Chickasaw NRA - Ranger and fee manager Eric Reubin retired from Chickasaw National Recreation Area after 33 years of exemplary service on March 2nd. Jobs - Listed today are two GL-9 protection ranger openings (both laterals) at North Cascades and a GS-7/9 AO for Fort Stanwix. For more information, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). A copy of the National Park Service's incident reporting standards is available at: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |