Point Reyes Light- October 22, 1998
Sheriff's car destroyed in poaching arrest
Point Reyes National Seashore rangers early Sunday arrested three men on charges of deer poaching after a rancher reported hearing gunshots.
The arrest was strangely complicated, however, when a sheriff's deputy, who was called to assist rangers, arrived on the scene only to watch his patrolcar burst into flames.
County firefighters and members of the Inverness Fire Department extinguished the burning car without complications, said Inverness Fire Chief Mike Meszaros.
Officers believe the fire may have started in the patrolcar's braking system. The driver, deputy Chad Yeager, reported, "I passed a National Park Service vehicle to turn around and assist.
"I applied brakes but did not stop and went off the roadway. Subsequently the vehicle caught fire and completely burned."
The incident began when district ranger Russ Case responded to a rancher's 2:30 a.m. report of gunfire and then heard several rifle shots himself, ranger Cliff Spencer told The Light.
Case discovered the three men driving east on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and alerted two other park rangers. They stopped the men's car just west of the Pierce Point Road-Sir Francis Drake Boulevard intersection, Spencer said.
While searching their car, he said, rangers found a wounded black-tailed buck in the trunk, shot in the head and throat but still kicking. After daybreak, rangers found a .22 caliber rifle on the side of the road, he added.
Felipe Arroyo, 28, and Jaime Rivera, 30, both of Modesto were arrested along with Jose Morales, 37, of Pico Rivera in Southern California. The men were charged with unlawfully taking wildlife, taking wildlife out of season, hunting at night, and discharging a weapon in a federal park, said Spencer.
Spencer said the men face a maximum fine of $1,000 and a year in jail, and they may lose their hunting privileges for up to three years.
As for the sheriff's patrolcar, deputy Yeager was able to salvage some items from the passenger compartment before the vehicle burned to its chassis, noted Sheriff's Lt. John Brunslick.