Rangers Make Arrests For Failure To Appear In Court

In cooperation with the United States Marshal's Service, the US Attorney's Office, and the United States Court, Western District of Arkansas, park rangers and a special agent with the WASO Investigative Services Branch executed 12 arrest warrants and 14 summons on violators for failure to appear before a United States magistrate during several roundup operations over the past three months. The rangers tasked with the execution of the court orders volunteered for the assignment and went through additional training for the operations. The original crimes included possession of marijuana, underage possession of alcohol, driving on suspended or revoked drivers licenses, lack of insurance, fictitious tags, tampering with property, speeding, destruction of government property, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct. Twenty-five of the suspects subsequently pled guilty or no contest and were sentenced by the magistrate; one pled not guilty and is scheduled for trial on July 7th. Due to the success of the roundup operations, the magistrates has asked that rangers conduct roundups the day before regularly scheduled court sessions in the future until the backlog of failure to appear notices has been cleared.