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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, July 27, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Agate Fossil Beds NM/Hubbell Trading Post NHS Felony Indictments Pending In Thefts From Two Parks Felony indictments are pending for two men for recent burglaries at Hubbell Trading Post NHS and Agate Fossil Beds NM. All of the numerous items stolen from the two parks have now been recovered. The case dates back to May 7th, when Hubbell Trading Post reported the theft of rugs and damage to property totaling over $85,000. NPS rangers and special agents and local FBI agents began an investigation. NPS agents followed a series of leads and were able to identify the suspects by name. A criminal complaint was filed in Flagstaff against one of them and a felony NCIC warrant was put into the system. Investigators followed leads and activity back to Denver, and “be on the lookout” messages were sent out to parks throughout Intermountain Region. On July 9th, Agate Fossil Beds reported the burglary and theft of a number of museum items. The particulars strongly resembled those in the Hubbell Trading Post burglary and theft. About $125,000 in property was stolen and over $10,000 in property damage recorded. On July 14th, wildlife officers in eastern Colorado were making routine fishing license checks on two men when an NCIC wants and warrants query came back with the NPS felony arrest warrant filed against one of them. The officers arrested him and took the second man into custody a short time later based on probable cause. NPS investigators and rangers from Rocky Mountain and Mount Rushmore subsequently found out where one of the men lived and prepared and served a search warrant. On July 16th, both men had initial appearances before a U.S. magistrate in Denver. They were remanded to the custody of the US Marshals Service and ordered held pending further bond and detention hearings. Felony indictments are pending and the investigation continues. On July 19th, NPS investigators recovered all the historic items stolen from Agate Fossil Beds at a location in Colorado. Investigators this week determined the location of the remaining three missing rugs from the Hubbell Trading Post burglary and expect to recover these items shortly. This recovery will mean that NPS investigators have recovered 100% of items stolen from the two parks. The two-and-a-half-month long investigative effort was led by a special agent based at Glen Canyon and by Intermountain Region's law enforcement specialist, with significant assistance provided by Yellowstone agents, the communications center manager at Yellowstone, the chief ranger at Hubbell Trading Post, special agents based at Grand Canyon, rangers from Rocky Mountain and Mount Rushmore, the chief ranger for Scotts Bluff and Agate Fossil Beds, the law enforcement specialist for Midwest Region, the FBI offices in Gallup and Denver, and the Nebraska State Patrol. [Brian Smith, Special Agent in Charge] Glen Canyon NRA Ranger Intervenes In Assault With Taser, Saves Life Ranger Shawn McNally saw an RV being driven erratically on Lakeshore Drive late on the evening of July 23rd. The RV went off the established road and barely stopped short of hitting a cliff face. A disheveled and partially clothed woman ran screaming from the passenger side of the RV back to McNally's patrol vehicle. As she was attempting to get into his patrol car, a man, later identified as the woman's husband, came running from the driver's side of the RV, tackled her and knocked her to the ground, and began choking he with one arm while punching her in the head with the other. During the assault, the man continuously yelled death threats at the woman. McNally quickly moved into a position where he could use his taser on the man without endangering the woman. All his commands to the man to stop went unheeded, so he fired the taser, hitting the man in the lower back and freeing the woman. McNally had to activate the taser several times to get the man's full compliance. Ranger Jake Olson then arrived on scene and assisted with the arrest. After the arrest, the man repeatedly told McNally that he'd intended to drive the RV off the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge, killing them both. This was the second time that Glen Canyon rangers have saved visitors lives by employing tasers. The case has been transferred to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. [Lindy Mihata, Acting Chief Ranger] Yellowstone NP East Entrance Temporarily Closed By Slide The East Entrance was to reopen to traffic yesterday morning after being temporarily closed Wednesday night due to a small mud slide. Mud and rock fell across both lanes of the East Entrance road just east of Sylvan Pass around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The slide, triggered by a heavy downpour, was about 50 feet long and varied from one to five feet deep. No vehicles were trapped in the slide, and no one was hurt. Rangers and maintenance staff were joined by representatives of the Federal Highway Administration and H-K Contractors, Inc. in clearing the debris. The effort was complicated by the need to scan the material visually and with a metal detector for unexploded ordinance used in avalanche control before removing the debris from the road. Rangers temporarily closed the road at the East Entrance Station and at the Pelican Creek barricade near Fishing Bridge. The East Entrance road was closed for six days in July, 2004, when heavy rains caused several mud slides, bringing 30,000 tons of debris down upon the same location. Updated information on park roads is available 24-hours a day by calling 307-344-2117. [Public Affairs] Chickasaw NRA Woman Rescued From Near Drowning On the afternoon of July 21st, rangers responded to a report of a woman drowning in Travertine Creek within the Historic Platt District. A 47-year-old woman had been pulled out of the river after being submerged for an unknown period of time. Rangers began CPR and were successful in restoring her pulse. She was then transported to Norman Regional Trauma Center via a medevac helicopter, where she is in critical condition. [Dennis Weiland, Chief Ranger] 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: Lewis and Clark NHP - David Szymanski has been named the new superintendent of Lewis and Clark NHP. Training and Events - The weekly calendars are included in today's edition. No changes from last week's listing. 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). --- ### --- |