CASPER, Wyoming – Virginia resident Alan Bowling allegedly committed crimes far crazier than petting the fluffy cows in Yellowstone National Park last weekend.

Why scratch a bison between the horns when you can instead steal a tow truck, drive drunk, destroy property and commit several other crimes for which Bowling could go to prison for up to four and a half years, according to federal court records.

Bowling, born in 1967, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Mammoth on Monday and will appear in federal court in Cheyenne on Thursday.

The crime spree began Saturday afternoon when the Yellowstone Interagency Communications Center received a report of a stolen vehicle.

That’s because the wannabe U.S. marshal, apparently under the influence of alcohol, went to the Old Faithful Upper General Store to buy beer, according to a criminal complaint filed by a ranger in U.S. District Court on Monday.

He didn’t get his beer because his credit card was declined.

So he got into a tow truck at a parking lot and drove away.

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

Bowling initially headed north from Old Faithful, turned around, drove the wrong way on a one-way street near the Old Faithful Lodge, left the roadway, broke through a thick fence, traveled 180 feet (56 meters) and stopped next to a helipad in a field near the post office and ranger station.

He got out of the tow truck and ran south toward the tree line.

A tow truck driver ran after him, but a ranger ordered him not to.

The author of the criminal complaint and another ranger pursued Bowling through the trees, crossed both lanes of traffic and followed him across Grand Loop Road, where two other rangers stopped him and held him at gunpoint.

A ranger ordered him to lie on the ground, the ranger who filed the complaint handcuffed him, and a search revealed a wallet.

When asked who he was, Bowling replied, “‘Nathan Patterson, unnamed U.S. Marshal,'” the complaint states.

When asked why he stole the truck, he replied, “I needed the truck to get to the U.S. Marshal’s headquarters,” and again said he was “Nathan Patterson.”

Rangers escorted Bowling to a patrol car and noticed that “he smelled of alcohol, and that smell intensified when walking near him,” the complaint states.

They took him to Mammoth Jail.

However, the senior park ranger asked them to return to the scene of the alleged crime, where the gas station employees clearly identified him.

The rangers drove him back to the prison.

There, Bowling refused to submit to a sobriety test, a preliminary breathalyzer test, or a blood draw, which required a search warrant.

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

• Driving under the influence of alcohol.
• Refusal to undergo a blood, breath, saliva or urine test.
• Interfering with, threatening, resisting, intimidating, or intentionally obstructing a government employee or agent in the performance of his or her official duties.
• Destruction of federal property.
• Improper conduct.
• Unloading process of a motor vehicle.
• Contempt of court.
• Reckless driving.
• Embezzlement of property.

In total, penalties could be up to 4.5 years in prison and a fine of $45,000.

Federal prosecutors have asked the court to remand Bowling in custody because he poses a flight risk, obstruction of justice and a danger to the community, and to ensure that he appears in court.

On Monday afternoon, Bowling pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick in Mammoth.

Hambrick ordered his arrest.

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

Related