Thu. Nov 21st, 2024
Occasional Digest - a story for you

Bond … bail bond?

Pierce Brosnan, former James Bond actor, is in the hot seat after being charged with trespassing in a thermal area of Yellowstone National Park. He has pleaded not guilty.

Brosnan received two citations last month for alleged “foot travel in a thermal area” and a “closure violation” at the Wyoming park in November, according to court documents reviewed by The Times.

The “Tomorrow Never Dies” actor has since pleaded not guilty and was scheduled for a mandatory court appearance on Tuesday in Mammoth, Wyo., but his lawyers sought to change that court date and to schedule a conference on the status of the case, according to the documents.

Brosnan’s hearing has reportedly been rescheduled for Feb. 20.

Representatives for Brosnan, 70, did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

The “Mamma Mia!” star’s alleged offense took place Nov. 1, when park officials say he wandered into a restricted area at Mammoth Terraces in the northern part of the park near the Wyoming-Montana border. Park rules state that “foot travel in all thermal areas and within the Yellowstone Canyon between the Upper Falls and Inspiration Point must be confined to boardwalks or trails that are maintained for such travel and are marked by official signs.”

Wandering off, park officials say, can be dangerous, if not deadly.

Water in hot springs can “cause severe or fatal burns,” the park states, and scalding water underlies “most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs.”

The 2.22-million-acre park is notable, in part, for its more than 10,000 thermal geographic features, including geysers, hot springs and steam vents. Millions of people visit Yellowstone each year, and some of them get badly burned by ignoring warnings not to stray off the trail.

The thermal features at Yellowstone have led to the deaths of more than 20 people since 1890, according to NBC News.

Getting caught can mean jail time, hefty fines and bans from the park.


The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Source link