NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

INCIDENTS

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Motorcyclist Found Guilty Of Speeding To Elude

On the afternoon of Saturday, May 9th, Great Smoky Mountains ranger Jeff Duckett became involved in a pursuit of a speeding and fleeing sport Suzuki motorcycle southbound on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The operator, S.D., 24, refused to stop despite Duckett having activated his cruiser's emergency lights and siren. Within minutes, Smokies ranger Mike Scheid set up a stationary position near the junction of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While posted with emergency lights and siren activated on his marked patrol car, Scheid attempted to stop S.D., but S.D. swerved around Scheid's vehicle at a high rate of speed and continued onto US Highway 441, entering Great Smoky Mountains. Rangers continued pursuing S.D. southbound onto the Cherokee Indian Reservation. At the point where rangers were planning to defer the pursuit to the Cherokee Police Department units, S.D. was met by a Cherokee PD officer traveling northbound who attempted to block his escape. S.D. slowed to a very low speed and attempted to swerve around the officer's marked patrol car in a deceptive move, but he crashed into the curb and Cherokee PD car. Scheid and several Cherokee PD officers arrested S.D., who later confessed to his unlawful actions. In May, S.D. was indicted by a federal grand jury for violating, via the assimilated crimes act, a North Carolina general statute known as speeding to elude arrest - a felony. On August 5th, S.D. was found guilty as charged on all counts in a jury trial at district court. On August 25th, he was sentenced to a concurrent sentence of five months active confinement and a year's supervised probation, including seven months home confinement, and ordered to pay restitution to the government for damages incurred in the pursuit. NPS special agent Kirby Styles and ranger Joshua Frazier assisted with the investigation and follow up on this case. This incident was recorded on Scheid's in-car digital recording system, which proved to be critical trial evidence along with S.D.'s taped confession. Scheid was the case officer. [Joe Pond, Supervisory Park Ranger]

Olympic NP

Injured Hiker Rescued

On September 2nd, a 65-year-old man from Montesano, Washington, fell 20 feet while traversing above the Elwha Snowfinger on the Bailey Traverse. The man complained of head and back pain, so members of his party of three activated their emergency SPOT beacon. The park had a light plane in the air doing wildfire reconnaissance at the time - it was diverted to the reported location and spotted the group of three on a steep hillside signaling for help. Assistant FMO Todd Rankin and ranger Mike Danisiewicz were flown close to the location by helicopter and Danisiewicz was able to scramble up the hillside to the injured man and begin an assessment. He determined that a hoist evacuation would be required due to the hazardous terrain and extent of the man's injuries. Whidbey Island Naval Air Station responded with a Blackhawk and flew the man to Seattle's Harbor View Hospital. He suffered no internal injuries, but required eight liters of fluid because of severe dehydration. [Colin Smith, Chief Ranger]

Lake Mead NRA

California Man Drowns In Lake Mohave

Park staff, with assistance from Las Vegas Metro Police divers, have recovered the body of D.A., 45, who drowned on Sunday morning in Lake Mohave. The drowning was reported to the park by Cottonwood Cove Resort staff, who overheard a distress call made on marine band radio VHF channel 16. Park rangers arrived on scene within an hour and began their search of the area. Divers from Las Vegas Metro Police were called in and they recovered his body in about 35 feet of water at 5:30 p.m. D.A. was with his family on a houseboat in Mesa Cove when the accident occurred. The houseboat was beached, and D.A.'s 11-year-old daughter was in the water in an inflatable raft. Witnesses reported that the wind started to carry the raft away from the boat and that D.A. jumped into the water without a lifejacket to swim after his daughter. He made it about 50 to 60 feet from the boat when he went underwater and didn't resurface. Another family member was able to reach the girl and bring her back to the boat. This was the eleventh drowning at the recreation area this year. All but two drowning victims were not wearing life jackets. According to U.S. Coast Guard boating accident statistics released last month, over two-thirds of fatal boating accident victims drowned, and 90 percent of them were not wearing life jackets. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

National Park of American Samoa - An endangered humpback whale recently gave birth to a calf in park waters. The whales spend their summers off Antarctica, then come north to the South Pacific islands to bear their young. This is only the second time that biologist have seen whales give birth within park waters in the last three years.

Intermountain Region - Bill Hayden, Glacier National Park's interpretive specialist, has been selected as the Intermountain Region's winner of the Freeman Tilden Award for Excellence in Interpretation. Photo.

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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