Discovery Channel's "Ice Road Truckers" May Be Here -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Remember this trivia posted a few days ago?

Carlson said CNN reporters did a ride-along with the department recently and other national news organizations have descended upon the town. He said producers of the Discovery Channel’s “Ice Road Truckers” reality show plan to soon come and follow Williston police officers for a new television series.

I just received a comment from a reader that "they" are here, apparently staying in the trailers / mobile homes / homes on wheels / whatever over at Williston State College. 


Ice Road Truckers, Driving Down Into the Bear Den, the Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Oh, speaking of following the police around for a few days, here's a story on crime in Williston. For those who have not been keeping up with the news out of Williston, the oil boom has resulted in a crime wave, so bad that folks are being quoted as saying, "We want our town back."

In today's Williston Herald, there are five stories on the front page. Three of them are above the fold, including one on bus drivers petitioning the city to slow down traffic at 4-mile corner (I agree); one on zone changes approved for more homes (good); and, then the following story. Again, remember, this is on the front page, above the fold and the headline right below the banner, about the same location where the Herald headlined the D-Day Invasion, back in 1944. (I don't have an on-line link, so this is being re-typed.)

Headline: Thief Caught on Camera; Busted

This is the story (again, remember this is the crime wave folks are talking about in Williston):

A pop machine was broken into at the El Rancho Wednesday. Adam Wayne Ready, 23, Shoshone, Wyo., stole $80 in coins from the Pepsi machine.

He then exited the building, crossed the parking lot and entered a camper parked there. 

Hotel staff called the police and the rest is history: confession, arrest, open-and-shut case.

I don't think the details to the Michael Jackson death were this good: not just any pop machine, but a Pepsi machine. The perp was seen exiting the building, to cross a parking lot, to get back to his camper.

Law and Order. Had it been a Coke machine, it would have been Law and Order: SVU.

And then this story, November 3, in the Williston Herald:

But that’s just what happened last Saturday, said the 50-year-old Everitt, who moved to Williston seven weeks ago for work and has been living in his van.

Everitt was charged with theft of utilities after he pulled his 1997 Chevrolet Astro next to the Raymond Family Community Center and used an extension cord to plug in a space heater that he has in his van.

Everitt was sentenced to 10 days in jail, eight days suspended and a $200 fine.

Williston Police Lt. Mark Hanson said police typically don’t go looking for people who are illegally plugged into electrical outlets, but if they get a complaint they will react to it.

And stealing is stealing, Hanson said.

“I don’t care if it’s 12 cents worth of electricity. He’s still stealing it,” Hanson said.

And because the Raymond Center is a public facility, Everitt is “stealing from the taxpayers,” Hanson said.

Hanson said a misdemeanor theft charge such as this can carry a maximum $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail.

Wilder said the city attorney pushed for four days in jail, but he decided two would be enough.

Four days in jail for 12 cents worth of electricity; I hate to imagine what will happen to someone who steals $80 from a Coke machine. Sorry, a Pepsi machine.

I can hardly wait to watch these crimes unfold on Discovery Channel as Geraldo-Rivera-wannabees follow Williston police around town.