NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, January 4, 2013

INCIDENTS

Valley Forge NHP

Pursuit Ends When Driver Jumps Into River

On Friday December 28th, rangers responded to an assistance call from a neighboring police department in a vehicle pursuit that had been ongoing for approximately 15 minutes and was heading toward Valley Forge. Rangers were unable to stop the driver from entering the park, where he continued to drive recklessly and at a high rate of speed while circling the visitor center complex. When the rangers attempted to block him with patrol vehicles, he nearly rammed one of them and then drove off road through a grassy area in front of the visitor center to get back onto the roadway. The pursuit continued for a short distance until the operator drove onto a dead end road, got out of his vehicle, and jumped into the Schuylkill River in an attempt to swim to the other side. After several minutes in the frigid water, he was coaxed into coming back to shore, where he was taken into custody. [Gregg Tinkham, Chief 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/):

Statue of Liberty NM - The staff at the Statue of Liberty learned last week that Santa really exists - and wears green and gray - when they received two giant gift boxes from the staff of Jean Lafitte.

Mount Rainier NP - Mount Rainier held a service of remembrance for Ranger Margaret Anderson on January 1st, one year after she was tragically shot and killed during a traffic stop on the road to Paradise.

Northeast Region - Leslie Dietrich, partnership development manager in Northeast Regional Office in Boston, has retired after 11 years with the National Park Service.

Pacific West Region - Chris Murdock, human resources specialist for Pacific West Region, retired on January 3rd after 35 years of service with the federal government.

Glen Canyon NRA - Brian Carey, the deputy superintendent for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge National Monument, retired on January 3rd following more than 31 years with the National Park Service. 

Training and Conference Calendar - Added to this week's calendar are announcements for this year's National Search and Rescue Academy, for five Section 106/NEPA training classes in parks and regions around the country, for a basic technical rescue training session in Canyonlands, and for a commercial services evaluation and pricing course at Mammoth Cave.

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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@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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