Park News October 23,2008

Redwood National and State Parks

On the afternoon of October 16th, 20-year old visitor Brittany Hutchinson sustained critical injuries from an approximately 200-foot fall at the Crescent Beach overlook. Moments before her fall, a member of Hutchinson’s party saw her exploring the area by scrambling on a particularly steep and dangerous scree slope that terminates in a vertical drop. A California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) law enforcement ranger scrambled down the steep slope along an alternate route, located Hutchinson near the bottom of the slope, and began resuscitating the gravely injured woman. A National Park Service protection ranger and a member of the Del Norte County SAR team carried an EMS pack to their location and joined the CDPR ranger in providing medical care. A Coast Guard helicopter arrived within an hour and flew Hutchinson to Humboldt County’s St Josephs Hospital, where she was pronounced dead within minutes of arrival in the emergency room. The competent professional response and care administered by rangers, the Del Norte County SAR team and the Coast Guard guaranteed that she had the best chance at a positive outcome, but her injuries proved to be too extensive. The incident is still under investigation.

 

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Rangers were contacted by park dispatch around 11 p.m. on October 17th and advised that a man had fallen over a cliff edge near Point Bonita. Rangers and Presidio fire and EMS personnel responded from Marin Headlands and came upon a two men and woman along the cliff’s edge. Rangers interviewed the three and determined that a friend who was with them had been walking along a social trail, stumbled, and fallen 200 feet to the bottom. Due to the extremely steep terrain and darkness, a Coast Guard helicopter and 47-foot motor lifeboat responded to the area. They found the man and a Coast Guard rescue swimmer determined that he’d died in the fall. Body recovery efforts took extra time because the vessel could not get close enough and the helicopter had to be refueled. The body was finally retrieved at 4:30 a.m. and transported to Fort Baker. The Marin County Coroner’s Office and U.S. Park Police Criminal Investigations Branch are continuing the investigation.

 

Kalaupapa National Historical Park

On October 18th, computer contractor Ronald Sasada of Molokai was sentenced in federal court following his conviction for theft of government money (18 USC 641). Sasada was contracted to provide maintenance service to computers on the remote peninsula at Kalaupapa NHP. Although he received payments for services he claimed he was providing on computers and servers owned by the NPS, special agents with the NPS, FBI and DOI’s Office of the Inspector General determined that he was not authorized to nor had access to the equipment or software he was invoicing the government for servicing. Sasada was sentenced to five years’ probation and 150 hours of community service and ordered to pay $8,800 in restitution to the NPS.

 

National Capital Parks-East

Early on the afternoon of October 13th, Park Police officers Ryan McDermott and William Alton were dispatched to the area of Bald Eagle Hill to check on a suspicious vehicle occupied by two men with bows and arrows. When they arrived, they found that there was nobody in the vehicle. They remained in the area out of sight and eventually the two men emerged from the woods, wearing camouflage and possessing a crossbow. The officers confronted and disarmed them. The two men were informed that they were illegally hunting in a National Park Service area. Both subjects were issued citations for possessing prohibited weapons and released. 

 

United States Park Police

On October 20th, three United States Park Police officers were among those acknowledged for their outstanding contributions in the 2008 "Smooth Operator" aggressive driving campaign.

The exemplary work of many individual police officers helped to make the “Smooth Operator” program highly successful over the past year.  Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey participated in this effort.

Officers Frank Morales, Ryan McDermott and Kenneth Bentivegna received awards during the ceremony.  During the four separate, week-long phases of this enforcement operation that took place over last summer, Morales had 994 contacts (52 citations, and 942 warnings), McDermott had 541 contacts (351 citations, and 190 warnings), and Bentivegna had 652 contacts (222 citations and 430 warnings).  This is the second time that Morales has won this award. Bentivegna is the Park Police coordinator for the “Smooth Operator” enforcement effort and is on the “Smooth Operator” steering committee. 

In its eleventh consecutive year, “Smooth Operator” is a program that has become a regional model for other states and is continuing to influence attitudes and behaviors regarding aggressive driving. United States Park Police efforts have had a direct positive impact on the safety of visitors driving throughout the roadways administered by the National Park Service in the National Capital Region. 



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Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

The Division of Visitor and Resource Protection at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is currently recruiting for two supervisory park rangers. Santa Monica Mountains is a busy park with over a half million visitors a year. The 23,185-acre park, located in both Los Angeles and Ventura County, is still growing and offers extensive recreational, cultural and educational opportunities. The announcement, available by clicking on “More Information” below, is SAMO-2008-06 and closes on November 6th. Contact law enforcement specialist Darcy MacDonald at 805-370-2306 for more information.



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