NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

INCIDENTS

Everglades NP

Assailants In Stolen Car Crash In Park

What initially appeared to be a medical emergency resulting from a motor vehicle crash proved to be a bizarre robbery/carjacking that occurred just outside the Chekika area of the park and ended at the Chekika Ranger Station. Two men attempted to force an elderly man off the road at SW 168 Street and 211 Avenue, but lost control of their own vehicle and had a rollover accident that completely destroyed it. When the unsuspecting victim stopped to help, the two men beat him, took his money and vehicle, and fled. Unfortunately, they were disoriented and fled at a high rate of speed west into the park instead of east. They failed to stop at the intersection at the end of SW 168 Street and crashed the victim's car into the marsh on the west side of SW 237 Avenue. They then ran to the ranger station, where firefighters - unaware of the criminal nature of the incident - requested EMS assistance. One of the men was injured, the other wasn't. As ranger Jim Cooner was assessing the injured man, several Miami-Dade police officers arrived with guns drawn and took both men into custody. The injured man was then treated for minor facial injuries and transferred to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. Both were then taken to Jackson South Hospital in police custody. [Bonnie Foist, Chief Ranger]

Grand Canyon NP

Grand Canyon Man Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Young Son

On July 23rd, park law enforcement rangers responded to an in-park residence to investigate a report of a three-month-old infant with extensive bruising and other injuries consistent with trauma. When they arrived, they quickly realized the injuries might be the result of child abuse. As a result, they immediately contacted an on-call special agent with the Service's Investigative Services Branch. A cooperative investigation conducted by the ISB and Grand Canyon rangers was begun. Ultimately, the infant's father, D.B., 29, confessed to assaulting his son. He said that he'd been drinking while watching his three-month old son the previous day, that he'd became frustrated, and that he grabbed, squeezed, and shook his infant son. As a result of the harsh treatment, the infant suffered substantial bodily injury requiring hospitalization. On January 26th, D.B., a Michigan man now residing in Tusayan, pled guilty to assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to a person under the age of 16. Sentencing is set for April 12th. [Robert Mullikin, Special Agent In Charge]

OTHER NEWS

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

Natural Resource Program Center - The thirteenth annual Great Backyard Bird Count, an event in which people across North America count and report birds, will be held this weekend. Many parks have participated in the past and are registered again this year.

OPM - Federal agencies in the Washington, D.C., area, which were closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the continuing impacts of this past weekend's blizzard, remain closed today (Wednesday, February 10th) due to another major snow storm.

Alaska Region - Jennifer Raffaeli of Fox, Alaska, will come on board in mid-April as Denali National Park and Preserve's kennels manager, the only job of its kind in the national park system. Photo.

Natural Resource Program Center - National expert on visibility protection Bruce Polkowsky has retired from the NPS ranks after 32 years of federal service. 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/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of 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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