"Since arriving in the Flathead Valley BAUTISTA has been living in a variety of places including the Samaritan House in Kalispell. It was clear to me from the information I gathered that BAUTISTA is not a permanent citizen of the US. I discussed this case by phone with SAUSA Katie Schulz and she agreed that we did not have enough probable cause to charge BAUTISTA with the theft of money from Hopkins but that we did have sufficient evidence to charge him with the illegal use of the US Access pass. I then wrote out the charge of Misappropriation of Services by using an illegally obtained access pass to gain entry to the park and served in on BAUTISTA as a violation notice with a mandatory appearance. BAUTISTA refused to accept the violation notice. When he refused I told him he had to accept it or be arrested and incarcerated. He refused and was subsequently arrested and transported to the Flathead County Detention Center by me and ranger Smith pending an appearance before a US Magistrate.
On May 26, 2009 I returned the Vista Motel key to Lori Kami manager of the motel. She said BAUTISTA had stayed at the motel in November of 2008 for a few days. She didn't charge him for the stay because they had no water but when she told BAUTISTA he had to leave the facility he refused. Kami said she had to call her laid off maintenance worker back to help her physically throw BAUTISTA off the property and that she didn't get the key back. She further said she and others had seen footprints in the snow during the winter and suspects BAUTISTA may have been illegally staying in room # 2 but can't prove it.
On May 26, 2009 I returned the Vista Motel key to Lori Kami manager of the motel. She said BAUTISTA had stayed at the motel in November of 2008 for a few days. She didn't charge him for the stay because they had no water but when she told BAUTISTA he had to leave the facility he refused. Kami said she had to call her laid off maintenance worker back to help her physically throw BAUTISTA off the property and that she didn't get the key back. She further said she and others had seen footprints in the snow during the winter and suspects BAUTISTA may have been illegally staying in room # 2 but can't prove it.
Barely any of the above is true. It is Ranger Dodd's lie that "I refused to leave the Vista Motel", The same for "being physically thrown off the Vista Motel (listen to my recent conversation with Lori Kami). it is ridiculous for Ranger Dodd to say I stayed at the Vista Motel in November 2008, when it was in February 2009. It is also untrue that I was arrested after I refused to accept the violation notice. Finally, Ranger Dodd shows in his report that he has no grasp of what is a resident, a permanent resident or a citizen, and consequently he has and did not have any clue of what the law says.
The truth is that I stayed at the Vista Motel a few days in February 2009. Lori just had had a problem with the pipes and there was no running water. I helped out Lori as she fell ill that Superbowl weekend. Eventually, I also fell ill. I was the only guest, so after a few days struggling with the pipes, Lori and the owner decided to shut down the facility and wait for the snow to melt. Lori was leaving to visit her daughter fighting cancer in Idaho. I had remained in bed the days before, was still not feeling well and had to quickly pack all my stuff and leave. Lori asked a friend to give me a ride to wherever I was going next. he helped me loading all my stuff in his truck. as I was going through the phone book looking for a new place to stay. Since they were waiting for me for quite a while, when I finally found something and got off the phone, I rushed to the truck and did not think that I still had to check out. Lori never said anything to me either.
I wonder why Ranger Steve Dodd so grotesquely lied in his report. It is not just that what he wrote was not true, but it was not what Lori told him either. I recently talked to Lori and she perfectly remembers all what happened, exactly as it happened. Lori remembers perfectly well that she had the water freeze in February, because that forced her to shut down the motel for the entire Spring. Moreover, it could not have been in November 2008, because there was no snow until December.
The fact that Ranger Steve Dodd did not hesitate to lie as much as needed in order to hurt me, shows very clearly that his goal has never been to enforce any law, but a personal matter. A clear indication of the ridiculous account provided by Ranger Dodd of the days I stayed at the Vista Motel, is that as many incidents as Ranger Dodd and the US Attorney's Office tried to raise against me to attack me and present me as a dangerous individual, they did not dare to use the fake 'Vista Motel incident'. Their desperate efforts to trash me are also evident from Ranger Dodd's pathetic reasoning that they suspected I had illegally stayed at the Vista Motel, just because they "found footprints in the snow during the winter". It is not surprising they also decided to drop such ridiculous argument.
As much as they worked to portray me as a threat to the community, I wonder who is in the end the real danger to the community. If anybody has any doubt about it, to me it is very clear that Ranger Steve Dodd and the US Attorney's office fit better in that category. I certainly stand up as the first, but probably not the last, witness of their disposition and capacity to hurt other innocent people in the community. Ranger Dodd had declared me guilty even before he started investigating. But, as I happened to be innocent, he could not find any evidence against me and consequently, in joint effort with the US Attorney's office, started fabricating arguments and false evidence against me. To their disappointment, that was still not enough to have me convicted, but to their comfort, they had me spend a few days in jail anyway.
I do not understand how it is acceptable in the United States of America that public servants with this kind of authority mix their personal feelings with their public duties. With this law enforcement, attorneys and judges, no matter how much you respect and observe the law, they can still take away your freedom and incarcerate you, if they decide they do not like you.
It is also not true that I was arrested because I refused to accept the violation notice written by Ranger Steve Dodd. The truth is that Ranger Dodd knew that, traveling on I bicycle as I was, he would already destroy my trip by writing a citation with mandatory appearance on Aug 21st. I explained him that I would call a lawyer before accepting the citation. He corrected that he would not wait and let me call a lawyer. He would count to ten and arrest me if, in that time, I had not accepted the citation and left. I insisted I would first call a lawyer to see if there was any way I can have the case resolved without waiting three months to appear on August 21st. As I went towards my bicycle and started searching for my phone, Ranger Steve Dodd counted to ten and, as he finished, grabbed my wrists, handcuffed me and told me I was now under arrest. It is true that, although I was not able to speak with any lawyer, I was later allowed to make one call, but that was strictly after I have already been arrested.
It is also to worry about Ranger Dodd's ignorance of the law and incompetence. He justifies his arrest based on the finding that I am not a 'permanent citizen'. Yet, there is nothing such as a 'permanent citizens'. Citizens are not permanent or temporary; but just citizens. Ranger Dodd did not and still does not have any clue of the different immigration status categories. Even worse, he did not and still does not have any idea of the requirements of my disability access pass. He did not start his investigation of my disability access pass because he had any insight that the law had been broken, but because he was fully committed to find something he could use to hurt me. As I express in my complaint to Glacier National Park, I don't see how a law enforcement officer may be able to enforce the law, if he does not have any clue of what the law says. It is like a Highway Patrol Officer writing a speed ticket, with no knowledge of what is the speed limit. By Ranger Dodd's own words, after several hours fishing and investigating he arrested and put me in jail, not knowing what were the requirements of my disability access pass. Fact of the matter is that I am not a citizen or 'permanent citizen' of the US, but I did not need to be a 'permanent citizen', not even a 'citizen' in order to apply for my pass. I could understand that Ranger Dodd ignored what my application form read and that I was only required to state I was permanently disabled and domiciled in the US, but I cannot understand that he did not even know what were the requirements of the law. He ignored them when he started the investigation, at the time of my arrest and incarceration. Moreover, he did not even take the time to find them out in the days after.
It is true that I am currently having problems with US immigration, but I hope that any decision regarding that matter, as well as any possible consequence I may suffer, will always be made through the proper channels. Immigration may have its view of what is my legal status in the US and I have mine. In any case, any decision regarding that matter, would eventually have to be made by an immigration court. If it is found that I broke the immigration law, I will bear with the consequences deriving from that case, but that does still not mean that the price I would have to pay can be automatically extended to any other completely different case, like my application for a disabled individual access pass to be exempt of entrance fees to national parks. Whether I committed any misrepresentation as I applied for that pass is something that should always de judged independently. The fact of the matter is that I did not. What I stated in my application is true and is not even in dispute by immigration; hence no connection can be established.
Moreover, it is not just that I am legally right, but I also strongly believe to be morally right. I do not agree that just because I am currently struggling with immigration, I should, on moral grounds, avoid asking for any kind of benefit that I am told to be entitled because of my presence in the US. In my opinion, it is a shame that after over ten years living in the United States, without creating any trouble, I am still considered a second class citizen, do not even have the right to work and have to go back home on a regular basis to apply for visas and ask to be allowed to come back to the US for a little longer, even if it is just to see the country. It is a shame that after more than ten year, I still have to struggle with immigration, just because I wanted to see the country.
As a final remark, It is truly hilarious to note to what extend Ranger Dodd and US Attorney Tara R. Fugina's sickness to find some way to hurt me, got out of control, that, finally, they stepped in the way of immigration and obstructed their process against me. Ranger Dodd and Tara R. Fugina were so absorbed in their relentless efforts to hurt me and oppose anything I would suggest, that in the climax of their sickness they also opposed my motion to advance the date of my August 21st hearing. As a consequence, since I had federal criminal charges pending in Glacier National Park, immigration had to postpone their action against me until 2010. I wanted to resolve all matters as soon as possible and therefore requested to advance my August 21st hearing. Special Attorney Tara R. Fugina, apparently following Ranger Dodd's instructions, opposed my motion with no other grounds than I should not get any special treatment. I had understood the hearing had not been advanced, if there was no earlier date available in any other location, but that was something for the court to decide and not the prosecution to opposed. If my request did not hurt anybody's interests, instead it facilitated the work of immigration, I do not understand why the prosecution opposed it.
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