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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, April 6, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS C&O Canal NHP Hit And Run Driving Arrest Leads To Discovery Of Stabbing Victim Park maintenance employee Skip Barnhouse called the regional communications center on the afternoon of April 4th and reported a motor vehicle accident in Sandy Hook, Maryland, which is across the river from Harpers Ferry. Barnhouse said that a driver, possibly drunk, had hit a parked car and was attempting to leave the scene on two flat tires. The center contacted the Maryland State Police, who advised that a trooper was already en route. Within minutes of Barnhouse's call, acting chief ranger Ryan Peabody arrived on scene, boxed in the 2001 Mitsubishi sedan against the adjacent railroad right-of-way, and made a felony car stop. The 34-year-old driver, a resident of Knoxville, Maryland, was uncooperative and declined to obey Peabody's commands. Peabody advised the communications center that he needed assistance, and several park rangers and officers from the Maryland State Police, Washington County Sheriff's Office, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources responded. Meanwhile, Peabody seized an opportune moment to physically pull the driver from the vehicle, fearing that he would injure himself or others by attempting to flee. He was taken to the ground with the assistance of Barnhouse, placed under custody, then turned over to state troopers when they arrived on scene. Blood on the driver's clothing was inconsistent with the motor vehicle accident, so troopers went to his residence to investigate further. They found a 34-year-old woman with life-threatening stab wounds and an unharmed 22-month-old child inside. The woman was flown by helicopter to the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. The Maryland State Police and NPS are continuing the investigation. [Blair Williamson, Lead Dispatcher, NCR Communications Center] Death Valley NP Injured Girl Rescued From Cliff On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 4th, five rangers responded to reports of two teenaged girls stranded on the steep cliffs surrounding Golden Canyon, a popular hiking destination in the park. One girl reportedly had a broken ankle while the other was reportedly suffering from heat-related illness (the temperature was 95 degrees at the time). As rangers headed to the cliffs, the uninjured girl successfully extricated herself and returned to her family waiting near the trailhead. The injured girl was rescued from a 500-foot precipice by the five-person technical rescue team and flown to the trailhead by a California Highway Patrol helicopter that had been assisting in ferrying rescue gear and supplies from the staging area to the rescuers. The rescue team was also evacuated by the helicopter during the last moments of sunlight, avoiding an overnight stay on the mountain by about five minutes. [Nancy Wizner, Chief Ranger] Sleeping Bear Dunes NL Fatal Accident Deemed A Probable Suicide On March 31st, the Leelanau County Sheriff's Department advised the park of a fatality that had occurred in the park sometime during the early morning hours. A crashed vehicle at the intersection of School Lake Road and County Road 669 was discovered and reported at 4:30 a.m. by a local newspaper delivery truck driver who was passing by. Deputies responded and found that W."B."B., 22, of Traverse City, Michigan, had been killed when the car he was driving ran through a stop sign at the T intersection and crashed into an embankment at a high rate of speed. W.B., the sole occupant of the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt and there were no skid marks on the pavement. Suicide notes were found by the victim's father and girlfriend at their respective residences. The crash remains under investigation but it appears the driver took his own life. [Larry Johnson, Chief Ranger] 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: Pacific West Region - On Thursday, Pacific West Regional Director Jonathan Jarvis ordered an ATV safety stand-down following the accidental death of seasonal biological technician Marina Giggleman at Padre Island. The text of his memorandum appears in both the MR and InsideNPS. Revolutionary War Parks - A new web-based publication entitled Honored Places, the NPS Teacher's Guide to the American Revolution will provide teachers with a wealth of information on the Revolutionary war period. Interpretation and Education Division - The new Web Rangers site “will build a community of kids excited about their national park legacy and get them up and out to see these places for themselves.” Jean Lafitte NHP&P - Even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita turned the eyes of the world toward Louisiana's disappearing coastline, park staff were making plans to address the issue in new exhibits at the Barataria Preserve visitor center. On Saturday, March 31st, the new exhibits officially opened to the public. Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - The office puts out weekly reports on hearings, new legislation and other activities on the Hill. The current summary appears in InsideNPS. These summaries will appear regularly in future editions of InsideNPS. Weekly Training Calendar - New additions to this week's listing include a training course on the Park System Resource Protection Act at Chattahoochee and two TEL Station courses - one a FLETC legal update, the other a course on managing workmen's comp cases. Weekly Events Calendar - Today's listing of upcoming NPS and NPS-related events across the nation. Added this week are the biennial Revolutionary War Days event at Ninety Six, a public release of California condors at Pinnacles, a “No Child Left Inside” workshop at Acadia, and a geographic names conference in Kentucky. To see the above articles, 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/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to 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). --- ### --- |