White Mountain's Pit Bull Attack Rangers and assorted Mayhem in Badlands....
Bastard Toadflax
http://home.nps.gov/applications/morningreport/
Badlands National Park (SD)
Two Rangers Injured In Assault, Three Arrested
On October 1st, ranger Chad Coles came upon a Dodge van parked in the
Doors and Windows parking lot. Since the van was not displaying any
registration, Coles contacted the driver, Robert Lee White Mountain.
While talking to him, Coles noted that the van was occupied by the
driver, two passengers and four dogs, including three pit bulls. During
his investigation, Coles learned that White Mountain had an active
warrant out for his arrest. Meanwhile, one of the other occupants of the
van took out a digital recorder and began filming Coles. All of them
began yelling at Coles, telling him that he had no authority or
jurisdiction and that they were not accountable to the laws of the
United States. Coles returned to his cruiser and requested assistance.
When rangers and South Dakota Highway Patrol officers arrived, White
Mountain was taken into custody without incident. As rangers returned to
the van to speak with the passengers, the pit bulls became excited,
barking and growling menacingly. One of the passengers warned the
rangers that the dogs were not friendly. A routine computer check on the
front passenger – Robert Timothy White Mountain – revealed that he, too,
had outstanding warrants against him. He was asked to step out of the
van and was also arrested without incident. The second passenger –
Patrick White Mountain – appeared extremely nervous when rangers asked
him to leash the dogs and get out of the vehicle. He suddenly jumped
into the driver’s seat and started the engine, but it quit as he was
trying to get it into gear. Rangers told him that he was under arrest
and ordered him out of the van. He instead started it up again and was
about to drive away when a highway patrol officer jumped in through the
open front passenger door and turned the engine off. White Mountain then
returned to the main passenger compartment of the van and put leashes on
the dogs. When he opened the sliding door, the dogs were pulling on
their leashes. White Mountain then opened his hands and dropped the
leashes and the pit bulls jumped out. One of them immediately attacked
ranger Vincent Littlewhiteman. White Mountain grabbed a black bag and
ran out of the vehicle towards the badland formations to the east. With
one of the pit bulls, he jumped down a 10 to 15-foot cliff and climbed
into the rugged crevasses below. When Coles pursued, another pit bull
attacked him, causing Coles to fall to the ground due to the savagery of
the attack. Coles got to his feet and fired two rounds at the dog when
it attacked again. Indications were that White Mountain had a handgun
with him, so additional rangers and officers were brought in from Mount
Rushmore, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Oglala Tribal Police.
While a tactical team was assembled, a hasty search was conducted from a
South Dakota Highway Patrol helicopter. The tactical team then repelled
into the ravines and crevasses east of the parking lot and began
searching for White Mountain. They almost immediately recovered about a
half kilo of marijuana, and found White Mountain after a search of
nearly three hours duration. He was found just outside the park, walking
southeast toward the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, by tribal officers.
He was taken into custody without incident. Narcotics and a .38 caliber
handgun were recovered in a search incident to the arrest. Coles and
Littlewhiteman, who suffered only minor injuries, were treated by Kadoka
Ambulance medical personnel and released. All three of the White
Mountains were taken to the Pennington County jail and are to be charged
federally for narcotics and weapons violations and for assaulting
federal law enforcement officers. [Submitted by Mark Gorman, Chief Ranger]
tiny dancer
"Bastard Toadflax" <bastard_...@windstream.net> wrote in message
news:2ac37$470ba8ca$621027ca$31...@ALLTEL.NET...
> Wow! This incident would make a Great Movie.... It has it all....
I'll have to agree, it certainly kept my attention all the way through. You
have to give LE credit, they weren't intimidated by four dogs.
td
<story intact below>
Chocolic
news:2ac37$470ba8ca$621027ca$31...@ALLTEL.NET...
>
Nah, that stuff goes on all the time (actually worse) on or by the
reservations.
Chocolic