NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, September 3, 2009
INCIDENTS
New River Gorge NR
Auto Burglars Sentenced In Federal Court
A.W.C. and A.K., both 33 and from Port Republic, Maryland, have each been sentenced in federal court to 14 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release for conspiring to commit credit card fraud. In addition to their prison terms, A.W.C. and A.K. were also ordered to pay over $8,800 in restitution to the victims whose credit cards were stolen. In May, 2003, A.W.C., A.K. and C.“D.”C. went on a crime spree that started in Maryland and ended in West Virginia, with more than a dozen credit cards being stolen and approximately $10,000 in loss to the victims and their credit card companies. Throughout that month and on several other occasions, A.W.C., A.K. and their co-conspirator drove from Maryland to areas within and around the New River Gorge National River. There they targeted cars parked at trailheads in Raleigh, Fayette and Nicholas Counties. Anthony Wayne broke into the cars while A.K. and C.C. stood guard. The conspirators used a slim jim to gain access to the cars, which allowed them to break in undetected. Once inside the cars, they stole credit cards which they later used at local stores to purchase merchandise, including $500 gift cards (redeemable for merchandise with cash returned for change), portable DVD players and laptop computers. The trio also used the credit cards to purchase gas and other items along their way back to Maryland. New River Gorge rangers conducted an investigation that led them on a quest for evidence spanning seven West Virginia counties and three states. Surveillance videos from several retail stores allowed rangers to produce a flyer, alerting surrounding agencies of the crimes and helping to identify the suspects. On the third week of the operation, a ranger with the Army Corps of Engineers spotted three individuals he recognized from the flyer and alerted NPS rangers. C.C. was detained while Anthony Wayne and A.K. fled back to Maryland, leaving their vehicle behind. A search warrant executed on their vehicle revealed several credit cards in a hidden compartment. These cards proved to have been stolen earlier in the day from vehicles on NPS property and became the cornerstone in the prosecution's case. Assistant United States Attorney Karen B. Schommer handled the prosecution. [Chuck Noll, Law Enforcement Specialist]
Lake Mead NRA
Two Brothers Drown In Lake Mohave Cove
The bodies of two brothers, ages 33 and 29, have been recovered from Six Mile Cove on Lake Mohave. The Clark County coroner has determined that both men drowned. On Tuesday evening, rangers, Las Vegas Metro Police, and Clark County Fire responded to a 911 call reporting a body floating face down in the water at the cove. Metro and Clark County Fire arrived on scene first and pulled the body from the water. Rangers continued the search on the water for the second man. He was located in six feet of water at about 10:40 p.m. Campers in the area found the body in the water and called 911. They reported that they had seen the brothers together earlier in the day. Rangers located their car on shore and found identification indicating both were Mexican nationals living in Las Vegas. Neither was wearing a lifejacket. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]
Blue Ridge Parkway
Ginseng Poacher Arrested
On Friday, August 7th, ranger Joe Darling and training ranger Ryan Lindsay came upon a silver Nissan pickup parked at milepost 378. Fresh footprints led from the truck into the woods in an area known to contain ginseng, so the rangers checked to see if they could find the operator. Their efforts were unsuccessful. The two rangers came upon the same pickup at the same location on Saturday, but were again unable to find the operator. On Sunday, the rangers saw the truck yet again, but this time in another location about ten miles away. Fresh footprints led into the woods - and to one D.H. When contacted, D.H. was found to have dirty hands and soiled knees, typically found on those engaged in digging ginseng. He denied that he was engaged in poaching the plant, but further investigation and a search of his truck and the surrounding area led to the discovery of a black camera case containing 138 freshly-dug ginseng roots just inside the tree line. D.H. was arrested and subsequently admitted to digging in the park over the course of several days. On August 25th, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison, ordered to pay $100 in restitution for the replanting cost of the 138 roots, and banned from federal lands for a year. [Tim Francis]
Blue Ridge Parkway
One Killed, Two Injured In Motorcycle Accident
On the evening of August 29th, J.A.C., 56, of Muskegon, Michigan, was taken off life support following hospitalization for injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident that occurred on the parkway on August 19th. J.A.C. was riding on the back of a motorcycle being operated by her husband P.C. He was leading a group of ten motorcycles when a deer reportedly jumped out in front of his bike. While braking to avoid the deer, the rear wheel of their motorcycle was struck by the front wheel of a motorcycle that was behind them. Both bikes fell to the ground. Jo Ann J.A.C. and Eric Vandam, operator of the rear bike, were airlifted to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. Vandam is being treated for a broken shoulder blade and collapsed lung. P.C. was treated at the scene and released. Ranger Dustin Gunderson is the lead investigator. No charges are pending. [Dave Bauer, Highlands District Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Mammoth Cave NP - Mammoth Cave has signed a sister park agreement with three Chinese parks - Shilin Stone Forest National Park, Libo Zhangjiang National Park, and Wulong National Park. These three parks together comprise the South China Karst World Heritage Site. Mammoth Cave is also a World Heritage Site.
Chief Information Officer - The Office of the Chief Information Officer is pleased to announce that Service employees, contractors, etc., may now use wireless networking technology (Wi-Fi) on government furnished laptops/desktops.
Glen Canyon NRA - Brian Carey has been selected as the deputy superintendent for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Carey will assume his new duties in October.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter): NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index ; non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
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 support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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