Two guys who should have stayed in bed
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
n a clear case of being in the wrong place at the wrong
time, being down on your luck, or just plain having bad karma, last January,
Buford Morris, 44, and Steven Irvin, 27, decided to loot a prehistoric Cahuilla
Indian village site in Coachella, California, at about the same time that
fifty law enforcement personnel and archaeologists were scheduled to visit
the site as part of an Archaeological Resources Protection Act training
class.
The scene was somewhat comic in its proportions. The
puzzlement of the looters at the sudden arrival of fifty people (whose law
enforcement status was disguised by street clothes) was matched only by
the suspicion of the class members, who were convinced that the instructors
had deviously staged the event as part of the training. Bureau of Land Management
Archaeologist Mike Mitchell, who was leading the tour, approached the first
man and casually asked, "What are you doing?" Not fully realizing
the predicament he was in, the man smiled and held up a plastic bag full
of pot shards and replied, "Oh, I'm just looking around for old Indian
stuff. What are you guys doing taking a tour?" "You might say
that," Mike replied.
A few more comic and chaotic moments passed, during
which time the instructors finally convinced the class - aided by the discovery
of a loaded 40 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol - that the event was not
staged. A subsequent search of the suspects' vehicle turned up lots of pot
shards, customized probing tools, an artifact price guide, and a map of
Joshua Tree National Park marked with the location of several archaeological
sites.
Morris and Irvin were taken into custody by BLM Rangers
and charged with violating state antiquities and firearms laws. Both pleaded
guilty in Riverside County Court and were fined $660 each, sentenced to
three years probation, and forfeiture of their firearm. The artifacts will
be repatriated to the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Indians.
Morris and Irvin were never told that they were nabbed
in a fluky encounter with a training class. Hopefully, the story they are
telling their friends and other looters is that law enforcement is taking
looting seriously, and if they risk looting in the California Desert, huge
SWAT teams will be mobilized to deal with them .
