NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, July 26, 2007

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INCIDENTS

Yellowstone NP

Two Indicted In Tri-State Car Clouting Spree

In July , 2006, rangers and special agents began investigating a rash of auto burglaries that had occurred in the Old Faithful and Belcher areas. The eight car clouts occurring in the park appeared to match M.O. and suspect information gathered in the investigation of similar burglaries that had occurred in Teton County (Wyoming), Gallatin County (Montana), and Bonneville, Madison and Fremont Counties (Idaho). Collectively, these areas had experienced 35 to 40 burglaries with an estimated total property loss of over $180,000. Among the victims were people employed by the park's horse and stock operation. In August, 2006, detectives from Idaho and NPS special agents identified the suspects - two men, aged 19 and 25, living in Rexburg, Idaho. Both were arrested following the controlled delivery of an item purchased with a stolen credit card. Agents, rangers and detectives then served search warrants and recovered most of the stolen property from a number of locations. Both men were prosecuted in Idaho for crimes in that state; they pled guilty, were sentenced, and served jail sentences that came to an end on July 18th. Yellowstone rangers then took the two men into custody and transported them to Mammoth Hot Springs. They'd been indicted by a federal grand jury in 2006 on several felony charges - interstate transport of stolen property, conspiracy, theft, and aiding and abetting theft - and federal arrest warrants were issued at that time. An NPS special agent was the case agent for the federal case, which included the Yellowstone burglaries and all the 35 plus crimes in the three states. On July 19th, the men had initial appearances before a federal magistrate at Yellowstone and were remanded to the custody of the US Marshal's Service pending detention hearings, pleas or trials. [Brian Smith, Special Agent in Charge]

Grand Canyon NP

Suicidal Person Saved Through Taser Use

On the afternoon of Monday, July 9th, park dispatch received a “be on the lookout” message from the police department in Painesville, Ohio, for a suicidal 48-year-old man. According to the BOLO, he had a seizure disorder with related violent tendencies and was off his medications. Painesville PD was actively working with the man's wife in tracking his movements through his credit card transactions. Using these transactions, they were able to estimate his speeds at an average of 100 miles per hours. The BOLO also said that the man intended to commit suicide by driving off the canyon rim and that he might take out pedestrians in his way. Rangers planned ahead on how to stop the man in the safest manner, focusing on stopping him before he reached the heavily-used Mather Point area. Several spike strip locations were identified and rangers were pre-positioned in locations to isolate him once stopped. The mans' vehicle was soon spotted by a pre-positioned ranger at the South Entrance Station. Three minutes later, three rangers and a Coconino County deputy stopped the vehicle north of the entrance station, while other rangers remained in position with spike strips and prevented other vehicles from entering the high-risk stop area. The man complied by pulling over, but got out of his car and approached the rangers and officer despite commands to stay in his car. With long guns covering them, two of the rangers approached him with their tasers. His response was to tell them to “go ahead, you will make my day by ending this right now.” He then threw up his arms and turned to get back into the car. The rangers closed the distance to the man and fired their tasers to keep him from doing so. One of the tasers was effective - the man locked up his arms in front of him and fell over backwards. An ambulance that was staged up the road responded and its personnel provided medical attention. The man was restrained immediately thereafter, then taken to Flagstaff Medical Center, 74 miles away. He was combative all the way. The man sustained a basal skull fracture from the fall. As of July 16th, he was still in protective care and was expected to make a full recovery. [Michael Nash, South Rim District Ranger]

Grand Teton NP

Two Backcountry Helicopter Rescues

Rangers responded to two separate backcountry emergencies on Saturday, July 21st. With the assistance of an interagency contract helicopter, they flew a severely dehydrated climber from the Lower Saddle early on Saturday morning. On Saturday evening, they again used a helicopter to evacuate a hiker from the East Face of Buck Mountain after she sustained injuries to her ankle. The first rescue involved a 15-year-old climber who had successfully completed a one-day ascent of the Grand Teton on Friday with a private party. He became very dehydrated and ill on the descent, though, and was only able to descend to the Lower Saddle (elevation 11,600 feet). He spent the night at the saddle, where climbing guides from Exum Mountain Guides attempted to rehydrate and feed him. A guide called rangers for assistance at 4:00 a.m. Due to the patient's deteriorating condition and the severity of his symptoms, rangers arranged to utilize an interagency contract helicopter for evacuation. The helicopter flew a ranger to the Lower Saddle to assist with evacuation at approximately 8:30 a.m. Rangers provided medical care before loading the patient inside the helicopter for a flight to Lupine Meadows. A park ambulance then transported him to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson, where he was treated and released later that day. In the evening, rangers received another emergency phone call, this one from D.R., 58, whose wife, S.R., 57, had injured her ankle while descending the East Face of Buck Mountain. The R.s had reached the summit of Buck Mountain and begun their descent when S.R. twisted her ankle at about 11,000 feet. Since she was unable to bear weight or proceed further, David placed an emergency 911 phone call, which was transferred to Teton Interagency Dispatch Center. Rangers immediately began coordinating a rescue. A reconnaissance helicopter flight located the injured party and assessed the scene. Three rangers were then flown to Timberline Lake (elevation 10,000 feet), and two of them hiked up about 1,000 feet to the R.s. Due to the steep and rocky terrain and the nature of S.R.'s injury, they decided to use the short-haul technique to evacuate her. The technique involves placing a patient into either an evacuation suit or a rescue litter, which is suspended below the helicopter by a double rope system; the patient is then airlifted for a short flight to another landing spot where the ship can safely touch down. In this case, a ranger loaded R. into an evacuation suit and attended her while the two were short-hauled to White Grass Meadows. A park ambulance then transported R. to St. John's Medical Center. These incidents mark the eighth and ninth major search and rescue operations in the park this year. Saturday's Lower Saddle rescue was the fourth helicopter evacuation of hikers who were overcome by the effects of heat, dehydration, overexertion or altitude. There have been several other heat-related incidents this summer where rangers have assisted dehydrated or ill hikers without the use of a helicopter. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Specialist]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories (among others) 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:

World Ranger Day - Parks and offices around the National Park Service will be celebrating World Ranger Day next week with showings of a new video on rangers at work around the world and other activities. A listing of events is included.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.

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

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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).

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