Yellowstone visitor at Old Faithful charged with stealing park truck, drunk driving, property destruction

CASPER, Wyo. — A Virginia man was charged with numerous offenses in Yellowstone National Park last weekend.

According to federal court records, Alan Bowling, born in 1967, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Mammoth on Monday and will appear in federal court in Cheyenne on Tuesday. He is charged with theft of a tow truck, drunk driving, property destruction and a handful of other misdemeanors, collectively punishable by up to four and a half years in prison.

According to a ranger’s criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, the incident began Saturday afternoon when the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center received a report of a stolen vehicle. Bowling reportedly drove off in a park service station heavy-duty wrecker after his credit cards were declined when he visited the Old Faithful Upper General Store to buy beer.

The ranger noted that Bowling “had no authority to take the vehicle.”

Bowling drove north from Old Faithful, turned around, drove the wrong way on a one-way road near the Old Faithful Lodge, went off the pavement, drove through a heavy fence, traveled 183 feet and stopped next to a helipad in a field near the post office and ranger station, according to the complaint. He then exited the tow truck and ran south into the tree line.

A tow truck driver ran after him, but a ranger ordered him to stop. Two rangers pursued Bowling through the trees, across both lines of traffic and across the Grand Loop Road, where two other rangers stopped him and held him at gunpoint.

One ranger ordered him to the ground while another handcuffed him, and a search yielded a wallet.

When asked who he was, Bowling responded, “Nathan Patterson, undisclosed United States Marshal,” the complaint states. When asked why he stole the truck, he responded, “I needed the truck to get to the United States Marshal’s headquarters.”

Rangers escorted Bowling to a patrol vehicle and noted that he “had an odor of alcohol about his person that was intensified while walking in proximity to him,” according to the complaint.

They took him to the Mammoth Jail, but the supervisory park ranger asked them to return him to the scene of the alleged crime, where service station employees positively identified him. The rangers then brought him back to the jail.

At the jail, Bowling refused to participate in a field sobriety test, a preliminary breath test or a blood draw, which required a warrant.

The Wyoming U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged Bowling with the following misdemeanors, each punishable by up to six months in jail, up to a $5,000 fine and up to one year probation:

• 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

The combined potential punishment could be up to 4.5 years’ imprisonment and a $45,000 fine.

Federal prosecutors have asked the court to detain Bowling because he poses a flight risk, an obstruction to justice and a danger to the community.

Monday afternoon, Bowling pleaded not guilty to the charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick in Mammoth. Hambrick ordered him to be detained.

On Thursday, Bowling will appear for a formal detention hearing in federal court in Cheyenne.