Felony Drug Arrests Made During Sturgis Rally

The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which has a significant impact on the park, came to an end on Sunday. Over the course of the week ending on Friday, August 10th, approximately 96,000 motorcycles carrying about 140,000 people entered the park along with other visitors. Mount Rushmore rangers, with strong support from the Midwest Region special events team and Midwest Regional Office rangers, managed the heavy traffic and responded to a variety of incidents, including accidents with injuries and drug arrests. Two of the drug arrests resulted in multiple felony charges, with a total of five people currently in custody. Three of the individuals were arrested for possession of heroin, 137 various scheduled prescription medications, psylocybian mushrooms, marijuana, cookers, syringes, glass pipes, and other drug paraphernalia. This case was referred to the state’s attorney. The three were indicted on multiple felony charges and placed on $50,000 bond each. The second felony drug case involved two people who were also indicted on state felony charges for possession of cocaine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia and were placed on $20,000 bond each. Rangers and state and local officers also ran a sobriety checkpoint late one night that resulted in a DUI arrest and a drug violation. A number of outlaw motorcycle gang members were observed in the park, but in smaller numbers than the past several years. This motorcycle rally continues to be the largest annual event in the state of South Dakota and impacts a wide geographic area, including other national park system sites.