NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, May 17, 2012

INCIDENTS

New River Gorge NR

Passing Of Ranger David Caldwell

Ranger David Caldwell collapsed while preparing to present a school program at the Grandview Area of New River Gorge National River early on Tuesday afternoon. Ranger Richard Altare and volunteer Ron Hunter began CPR within seconds of Caldwell's collapse and deployed an automatic external defibrillator (AED), which delivered one shock. Two nurses with the visiting school group continued CPR until ambulance personnel with Jan Care EMS arrived 15 minutes later. Jan Care personnel continued CPR and administered two additional shocks. David was then transported to a local hospital where hospital staff took extreme measures to save him, but all efforts failed and he was pronounced dead at approximately 2 p.m. David was a deeply loved member of the New River Gorge National River family, and the park staff is devastated by this loss. For more than fourteen years, David provided education programs for thousands of school children. He was also the park's very capable and primary public information officer, providing valuable information to members of the press and regular updates to the park's website. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our favorite and most capable park rangers,” said Superintendent Don Striker, “but we take some small solace in the fact that David passed away while doing what he loved - sharing his love of the outdoors with a group of students. Our entire staff sends their sympathy, thoughts and prayers to David's family and friends during this difficult time.” [Jeff West, Chief Ranger]

Whiskeytown NRA

Auto Burglary Suspects Caught

On the afternoon of May 12th, park dispatch received a 911 call from park visitors who had witnessed an auto burglary at the Brandy Creek Falls trailhead. These visitors saw the thieves jump into a white Nissan car and speed away from the scene. They followed and gave dispatch a partial license plate number. A ranger was able to follow the suspect vehicle, give dispatch the full license plate number, and determine that there were at least three people in the vehicle. The driver declined to stop when the ranger activated his emergency lighting, so a decision was made to conduct a high risk stop on the east end of the Whiskeytown Dam. This section of roadway has continuous guard railings on both sides, and a second ranger was able to block the roadway. The car was therefore boxed in. Two more rangers arrived on scene and the three people were removed from the vehicle and taken into custody. Two of the three had knives in their pockets, which were seized. One admitted to having a handgun in the trunk and another to having needles in the same location. The three suspects were identified as A.C.H., W.J.T. and K.D.G.. K.D.G. had been arrested three times since January in Shasta County and had two felony warrants out against him for drug violations - one for $250,000. Numerous stolen items, a handgun, drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle. All three were booked into the Shasta County jail on charges of auto burglary and possession of stolen property. K.D.G. had his bail set at $535,000 and Angela A.C.H.'s had hers set at $10,000. The threesome may have been involved in numerous other auto burglaries on nearby BLM sites and other areas in Shasta County. Since February, Whiskeytown has had over 19 reported auto burglaries. [Chris Mengel, Operations Supervisor]

Blue Ridge Parkway

Checkpoint Arrest Results In Child Pornography Conviction

On April 30th, G.M., 57, agreed to plead guilty to all ten counts of an indictment that had been lodged against him - seven counts of producing child pornography and one each of transporting child pornography, possessing child pornography, and possessing marijuana. The charges against G.M. were the result of his being arrested during a sobriety checkpoint on the parkway in October, 2010, when rangers detected that he was in the company of a runaway teenager. G.M.'s case required 18 months of investigation and trial preparation by the U.S. Attorney's Office, NPS law enforcement, and other law enforcement agencies. This case was further complicated by the fact that G.M. had to be extradited from Italy to the United States. G.M. will be sentenced on July 24th and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. [Kurt Speers, Ridge District 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/):

Department of the Interior - The Department held its law enforcement officer memorial ceremony on Monday, May 14th, in the Main Interior Building auditorium. Three NPS names - those of Julie Weir, Michael Boehm, and Christopher Nickel - were added this year to the memorial.

Museum Management - The museum collections web catalog, a collaborative project with its cooperative ecosystem studies unit partner, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, has been re-launched.

Yosemite NP - Yosemite National Park's fire department conducted a structural fire refresher over a two-day period early this month.

John Day Fossil Beds NM - Jim Hammett, the superintendent of John Day Fossil Beds, will retire on June 2nd following nearly 40 years with the National Park Service.

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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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