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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, May 17, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Baltimore Washington Parkway Arrest For Drug Possession, Assault On Officer Park Police officer Adam Zielinski was on patrol on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Route 495 just before midnight on March 30th when he saw a driver commit several traffic violations. During the ensuing traffic stop, Zielinski discovered that the driver had illegal narcotics in his possession. Zielinski removed him from the vehicle and a struggle ensued. Although the driver attempted to flee, Zielinski was able to get him handcuffed and under control. A USPP narcotics detection dog was called to the scene and alerted on narcotics in the vehicle. Officers recovered five gallon-sized ziplock bags containing about nine pounds of marijuana and a sixth ziplock bag containing about an ounce of heroine. The combined value of the drugs was placed at over $44,000. The officers also recovered more than $14,000 in U.S. currency. The driver is facing charges of assaulting a police officer, possession with intent to distribute heroin and marijuana, and driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, United States Park Police] Natchez Trace Parkway Pursuit Culminates In Arrest Of Drunk Driver On the evening of May 7th, field training ranger Jay Drinkwater and trainee Doug Briggs attempted to stop a vehicle for speeding near milepost 258. The driver refused to stop, though, and accelerated away, reaching speeds of over 100 mph. He then left the parkway and continued on toward a heavily-traveled area of Tupelo, passing cars in the middle turn lane and going through intersections at a high rate of speed. The vehicle went off the highway and came to a stop about four miles down the road. The rangers conducted a high-risk stop and arrested the driver without incident. He was charged with felony eluding, DUI and numerous other violations. His blood alcohol level was .15, nearly twice the legal limit. He also had two outstanding felony warrants against him from Tupelo PD. This was Briggs' tenth arrest in only seven days of field training. [Marty Huseman, Assistant Chief Ranger] George Washington Memorial Parkway Conviction For Following Emergency Vehicles Too Closely On May 10th, S.G. was found guilty of following fire apparatus too closely in federal court in Alexandria and sentenced to a fine of $1,500. Last October, S.G. was following behind a Fairfax County ambulance and fire truck that were responding with emergency lights activated to a reported traffic accident on the parkway. Traffic was yielding to the emergency vehicles, which were traveling up the middle of the two northbound lanes. S.G. was following ten to twelve feet behind the ambulance for between a half and three-quarters of a mile. The ambulance then stopped and EMS personnel on board asked S.G. to stop following so closely. The ambulance then continued to the accident, where Park Police officers were notified of the incident. Sergeant Frank Barwinczak stopped S.G. and cited him. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, United States Park Police] 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 - The solemn tune “Taps” will be sounded at every national cemetery and United States veterans cemetery worldwide on Armed Forces Day this coming Saturday - including the 14 national cemeteries managed by the NPS. Western Incident Management Team - On May 8th and 9th, members of the Pacific West Region and Alaska Region Type 2 Incident Management Teams met to create the new, combined Western Incident Management Team. 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). --- ### --- |