YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – A man was arrested and charged in U.S. District Court after investigators say he stole a government tow truck near Old Faithful.
Alan Rawlings Bowling, 57, was charged with driving while intoxicated, refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test, obstructing, threatening, resisting, intimidating or willfully impeding a government employee or agent, destruction of federal property, disturbing the peace, operating a motor vehicle off the road, contempt of court, reckless driving and embezzlement of property.
According to federal court documents, the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center received a report of a stolen government tow truck near Old Faithful at around 4:45 p.m. on August 10.
The tow truck, also known as the “Heavy Wrecker,” was reportedly being pursued by Yellowstone park employees as it headed north out of Old Faithful. The driver then turned around and headed the wrong way on a one-way street before running off the road and stopping near the post office and ranger station, prosecutors said.
According to police records, the man was identified as Bowling. It was discovered that earlier in the day he had “visited the Old Faithful Upper General Store to purchase a beer” and that his credit cards had been declined.
Bowling reportedly left the store, got into the tow truck and drove away.
A park ranger arrived at the scene where the tow truck had stopped and observed a Yellowstone park employee running toward the tow truck as Bowling ran south toward a line of trees.
Two rangers pursued Bowling through the trees toward a road, where he was eventually stopped east of the Old Faithful government district.
Bowling was arrested by park rangers and identified by his Virginia driver’s license.
When asked for his name, Bowling falsely claimed he was a U.S. Marshal, according to court documents.
When asked why he stole the tow truck, he reportedly replied, “I needed the truck to get to the U.S. Marshal’s headquarters.”
Park rangers say Bowling smelled of alcohol and was taken to Mammoth Jail, where he allegedly refused to comply with a blood draw warrant to determine his blood alcohol level.
Investigators later determined that the tow truck had driven 180 feet off the road and through a large, government-owned wooden fence.
Bowling was arraigned in U.S. District Court on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals. He is reportedly being held without bail.
No further court hearings have been scheduled yet.
