A 20-year-old man illegally entered a closed area near the mountain sculpture on the morning of Tuesday, September 4th. The park’s security system detected the intrusion and set off an alarm. Dispatchers watched the man on a surveillance camera as he took some photographs, then left the area. A ranger contacted him shortly thereafter while he was still inside the restricted area. When confronted, the man fled, resulting in a chase and search through rugged backcountry and along roadways for the next hour. The chase and search involved five rangers, a Pennington County deputy, and park maintenance personnel. Careful observations and investigative work quickly linked the man with an unattended pickup truck parked at Profile Viewpoint. Rangers staked out the truck and eventually contacted two 17-year-old men who’d been keeping in touch with the suspect via text messaging by cell phone and had come to drive the truck away. They eventually lead rangers to a small abandoned building just outside the park’s north boundary where the man was hiding out. Rangers, accompanied by the deputy, arrested him without incident, charged him with six CFR violations, and took him to the Pennington County jail. As part of his plea agreement before the U.S. magistrate, he pled guilty to two violations – illegally hiking into the closed area and interfering with an agency function by violating a lawful order – and the four other charges were dropped. He was assessed fines totaling $1,000, plus court fees. His primary motive appears to have been obtaining unique photographs. The photographs that he took with a digital camera were seized and will not be returned. The safe and successful conclusion of this incident came about through great teamwork, the physical fitness of responding personnel, and outstanding observations and investigation in a short timeframe.
