End of Summer Holiday Weekend Recreation Results in Numerous Responses

COCONINO COUNTY – From Friday August 29, 2014 at noon through Monday September 1, 2014 at midnight, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to approximately 340 citizen initiated calls for service and conducted approximately 610 on-sight assignments (area patrols, traffic stops, etc.). Sheriff’s Office staff also provided patrol of the fairgrounds and parking areas for the Coconino County Fair. The activity over the weekend resulted in a total of 74 long form reports detailing information on traffic accidents, criminal, civil and suspicious incidents.

SEARCHES AND MISSING PERSONS: Deputies received a call on 8/30/14 of a 3 year old who had wandered away from a family gathering in the Parks area. Forest Service and Department of Public Safety Officers assisted in the search. The child was located in good health. On 8/31/14, deputies received a call regarding a bicyclist who found a 3 year old wandering on a forest service road. The child was reunited with the family who were camping nearby. Deputies also responded to a welfare check on an 11 year old female who was camping with relatives and had not checked in as arranged. The family who reported her missing later was contacted by the camping party regarding her welfare.

A Missing Person report was filed regarding a vulnerable juvenile who walked away from the County Fair. Wyatt Field is 17 years old who is 5/10” with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen in the Fort Tuthill area wearing light blue jeans, grey and white striped hoodie, and a black beanie. No photo is available.

On 9/1/14 deputies were assisted by National Park Service personnel and Ranger Helicopter from the AZ for two overdue canyoneers in the Page area. A friend dropped the two off for a trip that required several repels and floating section of the Colorado River. They were located in good health at Water Holes Canyon.

OFF-HIGHWAY ACTIVITY: Because of the large number of Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) traffic on the forests and near neighborhoods, deputies conducted area patrols educating riders about OHV laws. We estimate that close to 50 groups with OHV’s were contacted over the holiday weekend. In some cases, citations were issued for OHV related violations.

Deputies responded to four injury accidents on forest roads. Two were single vehicle collisions involving female drivers under the age of 11. In an incident near White Horse Lake, the juvenile driver ran into a tree sustaining a head injury and injuring her uncle who also was on the vehicle. In an incident off FS535 the female driver rolled the ATV. Both juveniles were transported for further medical evaluation. In an incident off Stoneman Lake Road, four people were injured and transported when their UTV struck a tree. A collision between a vehicle and an ATV on a forest service road in the Blue Ridge area resulted in injury to the female driver of the ATV. An off-road motorcycle Deputies also responded to two other injury accidents involving collisions of vehicles on forest roadways. Speed appeared to be a factor in the majority of these off-road vehicle incidents.

DEATH INVESTIGATIONS: Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and the Medical Examiner also investigated two deaths since Friday. One of these was the death of a motorcyclist on Lake Mary Road, and the other was the death of an individual at the Bellemont Truck Stop. Neither death appears suspicious at this time of the investigations.

TRAFFIC & ALCOHOL RELATED ACTIVITY: In conducting some 154 traffic stops and over 290 area patrols (both forest and neighborhood), deputies issued approximately 30 citations for traffic violations over the holiday weekend. They made five arrests for Extreme DUI and three arrests for Aggravated DUI. They also cited several individuals for underage drinking at a college student party located in the forest on Friday evening.

BOAT ACTIVITY: Deputies on Boat Patrol at Lake Powell made over 20 contacts with people in water craft on the Lake educating the public on boating safety. Two Title 5 citations were issued for boating violations.

OTHER RESPONSES & INVESTIGATIONS: Other activity included responded to two public accidents, one in which a possibly intoxicated individual fell into a fire pit and one in which an individual reported malfunctioning of a firearm resulting in a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Two arrests were made related to weapons. A juvenile was arrested for assaulting a relative with a knife in a domestic incident. In an unrelated incident, a 44 year old man was cited for disorderly conducted with a weapon for an incident that occurred at the Mormon Lake Lodge.

Other deputy reports of activity over the weekend included responses to threatening/intimidating incidents, criminal damage, theft, recovered stolen vehicle, and suspicious activity. Deputies responded to approximately 50 disturbing the peace incidents ranging from loud music, ATV traffic, and shots fired.

The Coconino County Detention Facility processed 125 bookings from 8/29/14 noon through 9/1/14 midnight; 26 of those bookings were at the Page Detention Facility. Because both are regional holding facilities, bookings are from multiple law enforcement agencies throughout Coconino County.