NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, March 1, 2013
INCIDENTS
Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs
Rangers Manage Two Disturbed Visitor Incidents
During the month of January, rangers twice dealt with disturbed visitors - one suffering from Alzheimer's disease and the other from an emotional disturbance.
On the morning of January 15th, an entrance station employee reported that a white sedan had not stopped while entering Kings Canyon National Park. Shortly after, a ranger responding to that report saw a white Ford sedan traveling eastbound on Highway 180 following several other vehicles. As the ranger followed the group of vehicles toward Grant Grove Village, the sedan crossed into the oncoming lane. The ranger attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver ignored the patrol vehicle's lights, sirens, and air horn. After the line of vehicles in front of the sedan pulled over, the sedan continued eastbound while occupying both lanes of travel and seldom reaching the posted 35 mph speed limit. A second ranger responded to the call. About a mile-and-a-half later, the sedan pulled over near the north boundary of the park. The driver was an 89-year-old Alzheimer's patient from Bakersfield, California, who had been reported as “missing and endangered.” The man, who lived with family, had wandered away from home approximately 14 hours earlier. After a disagreement, he had recovered hidden keys to his car and left home for a drive to “clear his head.” He agreed to be transported to a ranger station to await the arrival of his family, who picked him up later in the afternoon.
On January 27th, a park maintenance employee reported by radio that a vehicle was stopped in traffic on a blind curve near Dorst Creek in Sequoia National Park. The employee noted that something appeared to be wrong with the driver, who reported being out of gas but then rolled up his window and refused to talk further with the employee. Responding rangers found the vehicle still in the roadway blocking traffic. The driver, a 27-year-old man from Stockton, California, expressed concern about being physically hit by the rangers. Rangers convinced the man that he needed to be transported to a ranger station to contact his family. Family members informed the rangers that there was no pertinent past medical history, knowledge of drug use, or known explanation for the man's unusual behavior. Unfortunately, the man's condition deteriorated and he began to act very strangely. He spoke in repetitive phrases, repeated a series of hand gesticulations, wanted to pace around the ranger station, and did not seem to recognize family members on the phone. By this time, plans were established to transport the man to the hospital by ambulance. Rangers coached him onto the gurney and restrained him with seatbelts. Any attempts at treatment were met with a high degree of agitation from the patient. The man was transported without further incident. At the time of this report, he is still hospitalized, and the cause of his condition is unknown.
[Ned Kelleher and Dana M. Dierkes]
United States Park Police
Park Police Assist In Local Officer Shooting Incident
On the afternoon of Wednesday, February 27th, the U.S. Park Police Aviation Unit responded to an ‘officer down' call in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. A motorcycle officer there had been shot while making a traffic stop in the Old Town section of Alexandria. The assailant then drove away, leaving the officer lying in the street. Eagle 1, the Park Police helicopter, was on scene within minutes and flew the wounded officer to a local hospital, where doctors treated him for life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, officers from several jurisdictions, including the Park Police, pursued the assailant and apprehended him after he crashed his vehicle. The officer remains in critical condition in the hospital. [Paul Brooks, Public Information Officer]
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/):
Maggie Walker NHS - Two members of the “Richmond 34,” a group of 34 African American college students who were involved in a landmark civil rights action in 1960, spoke at the park last week as part of a Black History Month program series.
Coronado NM - Staff from four divisions at Coronado National Memorial shared their love of reading with local kindergarten classes through a new “Love of Reading Week” program.
Intermountain Region - The Park NAGPRA program conducted a day-and-a-half-long training session about the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act at Castillo de San Marcos during the last week of January.
Northeast Region - The National Park Service nearly swept the 2012 National Council on Public History awards in the category of excellence in consulting. These awards recognize outstanding contributions to the field of public history through consulting or contract work.
Servicewide Training and Conference Calendar - Added to this week's calendar are eight new FLETC training courses at both their Glynco and Artesia facilities.
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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
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