NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, April 26, 2012

INCIDENTS

Redwood N&SP

Felon Who Threatened Rangers Sentenced To Jail Term

On the morning of October 26, 2011, Redwood rangers, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives SWAT team, and Del Norte County Sheriff's Office deputies served warrants at J.W.S. III's Crescent City residence. The warrants were based on evidence gained in HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=5961" a July contact between J.W.S. and Redwood rangers, during which J.W.S. endangered his five-year-old child, made criminal threats against rangers, and was found to have narcotics and a loaded firearm in his possession - the latter a violation because he was a convicted felon. J.W.S. was arrested and taken to a federal prison near San Francisco and tried this past January. He pled guilty to the firearm possession charge and on April 10th was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison. The successful prosecution of this case proved to be an excellent example of effective multi-agency law enforcement cooperation and execution. The participation of the SWAT team and the support of the US Attorney's Office stemmed from rangers' tenacity in pursuing this case. [Lorant Veress, North District Ranger]

Mount Rainier NP

Car Clouter Sentenced In Federal Court

On April 23rd, P.N.W., a resident of Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced to 24 months and one day in federal prison for her role in a series of vehicle break-ins in Mount Rainier during the summer of 2010. She was also required to pay restitution of over $7,000 to victims of these break-ins, ordered to serve and additional three years' probation, and banned from coming into the park during this probationary period. Last December, P.N.W. pled guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of a credit card and one felony count of aggravated identity theft. This case resulted from a wide-ranging investigation by Mount Rainier rangers and NPS Investigative Services Branch special agents following a series of vehicle break-ins that occurred at numerous trailheads and parking areas in the park. Evidence was meticulously documented at the scene of each break-in, leads were followed up based on receipts and other identifying information based on the use of stolen credit cards and identification, and evidence based on the use of stolen cards was documented by investigators to help make the case. As part of the investigation, a search warrant was executed at P.N.W.' residence. Rangers and agents recovered items that were stolen in the park and seized illegal narcotics that she had in her possession. State drug charges were filed based on this search. P.N.W.'s partner, M.M., who was also implicated in the break-ins, is scheduled for a June trial on related charges. During the sentencing hearing for P.N.W., the judge observed that P.N.W. had committed a serious offense and said that “unless you have been the victim of this type of offense, you don't have an appreciation of how disruptive these crimes are on the lives of victims.” For more information on this case, HYPERLINK "http://www.justice.gov/usao/waw/press/2012/April/williams.html" click here. [R. Chuck Young, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Minute Man NHP - This year's commemoration of Patriot's Day - the anniversary of April 19, 1775, when Minuteman stood up against British Regulars on the opening day of the Revolutionary War - featured a lesser-known event from the day during which Colonials extracted revenge on the British for their earlier defeat on Lexington Common.

Risk Management Division - The spring 2012 edition of Public Risk Management News is now out. It contains the third installment of a three-part series on approaches to visitor safety, with this article addressing visitor responsibility.

Alaska Region - Joel Hard, whose career of managing and protecting both public resources and safety in Alaska spans 30 years, has been named the new deputy regional director for Alaska Region.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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