JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The stabbing of a seasonal park ranger at Staunton State Park on Tuesday was an "elaborate hoax," authorities said, and that ranger, who remains in the hospital, was arrested on several charges.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday afternoon that it had finalized a warrant for the arrest of Callum Heskett, 26, on several felony and misdemeanor charges.
He was arrested on Thursday, but is still in the hospital. Investigators noticed inconsistencies in his story, which led to his arrest.
"Today, we arrested what we thought to be the victim in our stabbing from Staunton State Park," Jacki Kelley, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, told Scripps News Denver in a Thursday interview. "He was arrested as a suspect after he created an elaborate hoax to involve himself in what turned out to be a self-inflicted wound."
This incident began around 9 a.m. Tuesday, when Heskett, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) seasonal park ranger at Staunton State Park, called the Jeffcom 911 dispatch communications center and claimed that while patrolling the park, he had been involved in an altercation with another person.
Immediately after this, the communications center and Keskett lost contact and when they were able to reconnect, Heskett said the other person had stabbed him and then fled into the woods.
Heskett provided a detailed description of the alleged "suspect."
Deputies responded to the park and quickly found Heskett. They said he had been stabbed in the torso with a knife near the Staunton Rocks climbing area. He was brought to an AirLife helicopter, which transported him to a nearby hospital for surgery.
The search for the alleged "suspect" involved crews on the ground and in the air. A Lookout Alert was sent to 8,600 homes in the area. Multiple schools were also put on "lockout" status, meaning students were kept inside and nobody was allowed to come in.
The sheriff's office said later Tuesday that they believed "this was a targeted attack."
However, as the investigation progressed, the sheriff's office said its investigators began to notice inconsistencies in Heskett's statements.
"That, along with other conflicting and questionable evidence, further raised concerns about the validity of his allegations," the sheriff's office said. "After investigators conducted their first interview with Heskett, it became even more clear that his story was flawed and erroneous."
Ultimately, the investigation led to authorities determining this was an "elaborate hoax."
"We believe that he has a self-inflicted wound to his torso from his known knife," Kelley told Scripps News Denver. "... The suspect's behavior didn't match with what he says happened."
Once Heskett is out of the hospital, he will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail.
He will face charges of attempting to influence a public servant, tampering with evidence — which are both felonies — false reporting to authorities, reckless endangerment, obstructing government operations and second-degree official misconduct, the sheriff's office said.
"We could not be more serious about pursuing charges against someone who really did a lot of damage to a community that was terrified that there was someone at large to law enforcement officials," Kelley said. "Not only did we run to him as quickly as we could to render aid, but the manhunt that took place in the immediate aftermath, the resources that were used on this investigation, the community that was locked down, the schools that were locked down — there is so, so much to be frustrated about. And we don't know why. We don't know why. I don't know that we'll ever know why, but we are very confident that this was nothing more than a hoax."
CPW’s Assistant Director of Law Enforcement Ty Petersburg issued the following statement on Thursday afternoon after the sheriff's office announced the arrest: "CPW appreciates the county sheriff’s professionalism and partnership in investigating this incident and will share additional information as this matter develops."
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