A 57-year-old man from Virginia is in jail after going on wild joyride in Yellowstone National Park last weekend. Oil City News reports Alan Bowling pled not guilty in federal court Monday to charges including stealing a tow truck, drunk driving, and destruction of property.
The raucous details contained in a park ranger’s criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court paint a picture of drunken escapade that tore through one of America’s most popular National Parks.
It all began Saturday afternoon when Yellowstone officials received reports of a stolen vehicle belonging to the park. Bowling reportedly got behind the wheel of a heavy-duty park service tow truck and drove away after his credit cards were declining trying to buy beer at the Old Faithful Upper General Store.
Bowling drove north in the stolen wrecker, away from Old Faithful, before turning around and driving the wrong way down a one-way street near the Old Faithful Lodge. Bowling then when off the road and drove through a fence before coming to stop next to the helipad located near the post office. Bowling then exited the vehicle and ran into the tree line.
The tow truck driver pursued him on foot as did two park rangers. Bowling ran through the trees across the road the Grand Loop Road where he was finally stopped by two other park rangers that held him at gunpoint. They cuffed him and asked him to identify himself. Alan Bowling reportedly responded:
“Nathan Patterson, undisclosed United States Marshal.”
When they questioned him as to why he stole the tow truck he responded:
“I needed the truck to get to the United States Marshal’s headquarters.”
While the park rangers loaded Bowling into a patrol vehicle they detect “an odor of alcohol about his person that was intensified while walking in proximity to him.”
Bowling was taken to jail where he refused a field sobriety test, preliminary breath test or blood draw.
The Wyoming U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged Bowling with the following:
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Refusal of blood, breath, saliva or urine test
- Interference, threatening, resisting, intimidating or intentionally interfering with a government employee or agent engaged in official duty
- Destruction of federal property
- Disorderly conduct
- Offload operation of a motor vehicle
- Contempt of court
- Reckless driving
- Misappropriation of property
Bowling is being detained after federal prosecutors argued he poses a flight risk, an obstruction to justice and a danger to the community. Bowling will appear on Thursday for a formal detention hearing in federal court in Cheyenne. We will update this story as more details become available.