Preserve ranger tasers suspected thief

National Park News

On the afternoon of October 4th, ranger Mike Ice contacted two people in a parked ATT company vehicle on a road in a remote part of the Mojave National Preserve.

Ice suspected that they might be stealing copper or other metals due to some items that he saw on the ground next to the truck. The passenger, George Davis, produced a Nevada identification card, but the driver said that he had no identification on him. Ice checked both Davis and the truck on NCIC – both returned clear.

The driver then looked around a couple of times and ran to the truck. As he was putting it into gear, Ice was able to open the door and deploy his taser. The door slammed shut as the truck went forward, though, and the taser evidently had no effect.

Ice decided not to pursue and instead questioned, cited and released Davis.

In the ensuing investigation, rangers learned that the ATT truck had been stolen from Las Vegas, but had not yet been reported.

Ranger Brian Cooperider found it on BLM land west of Searchlight on October 8th. Numerous items of stolen property were recovered from it.

Ice is working on case with Las Vegas Metro PD and NPS agents from Lake Mead.