Posted on 09/10/2001 5:28:01 AM PDT by SLB
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Park rangers and SWAT team members evacuated a Yellowstone park campground Friday and surrounded a pickup truck they believe may contain armed fugitives wanted in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Marsha Karle, a spokeswoman for Yellowstone National Park, said information was sketchy, but a police spokesman in New Brighton, Minn., confirmed the pickup was stolen Wednesday from an elderly man and his wife who were robbed and beaten in their home.
The suspects in that robbery and assault, two men ages 18 and 19, also are believed responsible for a crime spree in Wisconsin, where police believe they stole a half-dozen guns, including assault rifles.
As a precaution, officials evacuated the Fishing Bridge campground along the north end of Yellowstone Lake and closed the east entrance of the park.
They also evacuated a small grocery store, service station, an employee dormitory and a visitor center near the campground, but the rest of the park remained open, Karle said. The number of people evacuated was not immediately available. The campground has 344 campsites.
She said there were no reports of any injuries or any shots being fired.
The incident began shortly before 6 a.m. when a park ranger spotted the pickup's occupants - believed to be two men and a woman - asleep in a roadside turnout.
After ordering them to leave, the ranger learned from a dispatcher that the pickup was reported stolen and that the occupants were wanted for a serious felony, Karle said. She did not immediately have any other details.
The ranger spotted the vehicle again a short time later in a parking area near the Fishing Bridge campground.
"The information we have right now is sketchy, but we believe (the occupants) are still in the truck," Karle said. "Our first priority was obviously to get all the park visitors out of that area and we've done that."
A SWAT team from the Gallatin County sheriff's office in Montana was at the scene, she said, along with park rangers and other law enforcement.
Police in Minnesota and Wisconsin identified the two male suspects in the earlier incidence as Patrick J. Engelbrecht, 18, and Thomas J. O'Flanagan, 19, both of Superior, Wis.
Karle said park authorities could not immediately confirm if they were the same men stopped in Yellowstone. The identity of the woman seen in the truck earlier also was not immediately known.
3 await extradition in New Brighton beatings
Chris Graves
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Published Sep 9 2001
Two men and a teenage girl remained jailed in Wyoming awaiting extradition proceedings for a string of crimes in Wisconsin and the beating of a New Brighton couple in their home last week.
Patrick Engelbrecht, 19, was jailed at Yellowstone National Park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs; Thomas O'Flanagan, 20, and a teenage girl remained in jails in Cody, Wyo., said Yellowstone Park spokeswoman Marsha Karle.
The men, from Superior, Wis., are suspected of beating Eleanor Stich, 77, and her husband, Edmund Stich, 79, before taking a pickup that belonged to their son.
Eleanor Stich remained in critical condition Saturday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis; her husband was in satisfactory condition.
Officials have said the pair are suspected of burglarizing homes in northern Wisconsin from which at least six guns were taken. Police have said they believed the two stole the Stich truck after the car they were driving had a flat tire near Interstate Hwys. 694 and 35W in New Brighton.
Authorities caught up with the men and the girl Friday after a park ranger spotted an illegally parked pickup, checked its license plate number and discovered that the vehicle was stolen. Officials arrested the three after a daylong search of the park, during which an entrance was closed and a popular campground was evacuated.
The relationship between the girl and the two men remained unclear Saturday. It was unknown when extradition hearings would be held.
I like that.
I like that.
Not as far as I know. It looks like they surrendered. This is on the opposite side of the state from me, but we had heard about these guys because they had an APD out on them.
This is one thing I didn't like--beating a couple in their 70's. It takes a lot of courage to beat a 79 year old woman into critical condition (/sarcasm):
The men, from Superior, Wis., are suspected of beating Eleanor Stich, 77, and her husband, Edmund Stich, 79, before taking a pickup that belonged to their son.
Eleanor Stich remained in critical condition Saturday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis; her husband was in satisfactory condition.
NO, NO, NO. This isn't possible. Everyone knows that criminals buy their guns at gun stores and submit to the Sara Brady and NRA supported "instant gun owner registration" scheme. Sorry, I just don't believe that it happened.
The relationship between the girl and the two men remained unclear Saturday.
Unclear to whom? There probably isn't anyone reading this who doesn't have a pretty good idea of what the "relationship" was. Wonderful reporting < /sarcasm>
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- A search for three individuals involved in a law enforcement incident ended successfully when the three were apprehended in Hayden Valley at around 6:00 p.m. this evening. Thomas Oflanagan, Patrick Engelbrecht, and a female juvenile were apprehended by members of a Gallatin County, Montana, Sheriff's Office tactical team and park rangers.
The incident began around 5:40 a.m. this morning when a Yellowstone National Park ranger noted that a pickup truck was parked out of bounds (camping outside a designated campground) in a pullout in the Hayden Valley area of the park and stopped and contacted the individuals. After he had finished his contact, word was received that a vehicle check done on the 1996 Black Chevy pickup showed the vehicle was stolen and associated with a home invasion in Minnesota. The ranger called for backup assistance and followed the vehicle to the Fishing Bridge area of the park, where the pickup stopped. The ranger was out of sight of the vehicle for a short time while he waited for assistance.
Because of the concern for public safety, several hundred park staff and visitors were immediately evacuated and the area was closed to the public. Law enforcement rangers from throughout the park responded to the area, and a tactical team from Gallatin County, Montana, was requested to assist. Park County, Wyoming, Sheriff's Office, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Bozeman Police Department, and Grand Teton National Park also provided assistance. Around 40 law enforcement staff were involved in the incident.
The Gallatin Country tactical team arrived at the area around 1 p.m. At around 1:30 p.m., they approached the vehicle and found that the individuals had left the vehicle during the short time the vehicle was out of sight earlier in the day while it was still dark. An immediate search of Fishing Bridge and the surrounding area was started. All vehicle traffic through Hayden Valley was stopped, and the Fishing Bridge area and East Entrance remained closed while the search continued. Entrance stations cautioned visitors entering the park about the situation, and vehicles exiting the park were searched.
At around 4 p.m., park visitors contacted Canyon rangers and stated that they had seen three individuals matching the suspects' description near LeHardy Rapids, approximately 3.5 miles from Fishing Bridge. At around the same time, researchers in the park also reported that they had seen the same individuals in the area around 2 p.m. Rangers and other law enforcement immediately responded to the area and began a search. One of the searchers glanced toward some trees and saw one of the suspects. The suspects tried to run from the area but were quickly apprehended. They offered no resistance, and no one was injured during the capture operation. One handgun, a knife and a hammer were found with the suspects. The three suspects were in good condition, although wet and cold. One of the suspects is being held at facilities at Mammoth Hot Springs; the other two will be transported to either Cody or Jackson, Wyoming.
The East Entrance, Fishing Bridge and Hayden Valley areas have reopened to the public.
This needs to make the headlines.
It's pretty bad reporting, but it's okay. If they're convicted, the boys can get new girlfriends while they're in the Big House.
prambo
Or more likely,they can BE new girlfriends in the Big House.
I'd change one word
If they're convicted, the boys can get be new girlfriends :-)
LOL! I do believe you're right. They'll be Bubbalicious.
Look, an arrest made without bumbling idiots telegraphing the move with a periscope equipped surveillance van, then "Pickett's Charge" with a good cop getting killed followed by firing in flaming tear cas cannister's until the suspect's vehicle bursts into flames!
Amazing.
To think that without the BATF running the operation, an arrest can be made without a gun battle, fatalities, a fire, and bulldozers.
Amazing.
Yes.
Stay well - Yorktown
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