Man steals Yellowstone Park tow truck, claims to be federal marshal

It sounds like the plot of a B-grade comedy. A man steals a Yellowstone Park tow truck, takes it on a joyride. When authorities tackle him, he’s suddenly a U.S. Marshal.

Can’t get beer, a man steals Yellowstone Park tow truck

This “comedy” starts on Saturday, August 10. A man strolls into the Old Faithful General Store. He walks up to the counter with a beer and hands over his credit card. “Denied,” responds the checkout system. The would-be beer buyer walks out.

Five minutes later, dispatchers get a frantic call from a Yellowstone Park Service Station. Someone has just stolen a heavy wrecker. On arrival, officers find service station employees following the wrecker as it rolls down the road on the “public” side of Old Faithful.

The ripped-off wrecker didn’t stop there. In a movie-suitable move, the driver rolls on out of the tourist area and drives around the geyser. From there, (you have to get all the scenes in your movie, right?) it heads on up toward Old Faithful Lodge. Now for a bit of splash, the purloined rig heads the wrong way down a one-way road. It stops near the ranger station.

Meanwhile, a park ranger drives up at the helipad, behind the ranger station. He’s driving a marked law enforcement unit, and his dome lights are lit up. The ranger spots the wrecker parked near the helipad. Close by, a service station employee is running for the wrecker, while another man is headed out toward the treeline. The station worker changes course, and heads after the other runner. The ranger calls for the employee to stop the chase.

Cut to the chase

Let’s cut to the chase. Two park rangers hot-foot after the alleged tow truck thief. The foot chase takes them through the woods, across a road, and finally ends behind a bus barn.

Probably panting by now, one of the rangers orders the would-be escapee to the ground—and he obeys. The other ranger cuffs him. On questioning, the now subdued man declares he is “Nathan Patterson,” and the arresting officer’s affidavit adds that “Patterson” says he’s a United States marshal. Where was he headed with that tow truck? To the U.S. Marshal’s headquarters, of course!

“Nathan Patterson,” now revealed as Alan Rawlings Bowling, 57, is not headed for the U.S. Marshal’s office any time soon. That is, unless marshals are pressed into service to transfer him if convicted of his nine criminal charges in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming. If found guilty, he faces four-and-a-half years in jail and $45,000 in fines.

“Patterson”/Bowling pleaded not guilty Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Hambrick in the Mammoth outpost of the federal court.

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