Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Arrest made in Trailhead and Big Pine Break-ins

M.C., mental illness can strike any family. Our hearts go out to you and your family, and we can only wish your brother is able to get the help that he needs and that your family is able to cope with the complications and feelings from learning through this forum that this world is an uncomfortably small one indeed. Hopefully, the same internal and external powers that can help a man to climb Everest as your brother did can also be harnessed to conquer the even greater gravitational pull of mental illness.

Be well.

MC my heart breaks for you. No judgement here, only compassion for your pain of family.

id like to hear johns side of the story....im sure what he has to say would be very interesting......i hope things end up well for your brother and your family..he seems like a good guy..

One only needs to read John's blog to understand what is happening.

For most folks, something like this happening is the only real contact that they have with someone who is very disturbed. I'm sorry to say it was a frequent part of my professional experience. For the individual, it rarely creates personal anguish, as they do not understand, anymore than a young child. However, for their loved ones, it is truly the worst nightmare.....and generally something that they can do little or nothing about.

MC, I hope you can take solice in the fact that so much of such situations respond tremendously to medical intervention. It appears that the only things injured were "things", not people. For this, I'm personally very relieved. Your brother must be a person of exceptional drive, to have done the things that he has, and hopefully that drive can be brought to bear on his recovery.

The anger that many people feel over the violations that happened (which may not be completely attributable to your brother), largely result from the feeling that someone has, with careful thought and deliberation, decided to violate innocent property, taking advantage of a situation that no one can guard against. It tremendously angers someone, that they could be targeted "just for fun", or as a prank.

However, that was clearly not the case. I would expect that most people would be forgiving of the actions of someone who could not discern what they were doing coherently.

I don't know what to say, other than I'm sorry you're having to go through this MC.

I must confess I was tempted to join in the chorus of people calling for swift judgment and punishment of the perpetrator. I'm so glad I didn't, because I would feel even worse than I do now, having learned of Mr. Christiana's circumstances, and the fact that I would have done so in full view of a family member. MC, I don't know you, but I wish you, your brother, and your whole family the best.

Lets not forget the folks who came back to their vehicles only to find windows smashed, or to the people at White Mountain whose lab at White Mountain was vandalized. They are victoms too!

While I do not know anyone personally who had their cars vandalized, let me express my sorrow to you for the agony you encountered when your car was vandalized.

Enough.

I don't think it makes sense to turn this into a contest of who is the biggest victim. I've been the victim of property crime. I know how bad it feels to have your car window broken out, your front door kicked in and what little of value you own stolen. I just think the magnitude of the property damage pales in comparison to the tragedy of a life gone so horribly wrong due to mental illness. This is a bad situation all around.

Thank you for the outpouring of support directed to my family and me! There are no words to express my gratitude.

I called the Inyo County Jail this afternoon (where John is being held). Being that the case is still under investigation, I did not get any info nor was I able to speak to John. Sergeant Hollowel, who is the detective on the case, should be calling me tomorrow.

As Steve Larson mentioned, this is a bad situation all the way around. I have been the victim of a car theft and have had my car vandalized. It is unacceptable. If John is found guilty, he will have to take full responsibility. I can tell you that John stopped communication with our family quite a few years ago. Last Dec., he got back in touch with us and stated that he believed the government had placed a microchip in his brain. Without going into detail, at some point he began to think his family, acquaintances and certain businesses were also in on this. I don’t want to speak for John but I know he is tormented. As Brent N mentioned, I can only hope that John will use the same determination that took him to the summit of Mt. Everest to over come this “mountain”.

Again, my sincerest sympathies go out to all those who were violated. I will update as I receive more info.

MC

Here is the latest update:

http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/site/content/view/1285/48/

I do not know John or his family but as mentioned before it is a sad situation for all involved. Hopefully John will get the help he needs but from the article it sounds like John will be spending some time in a facility for a while.

I can share my experience similar to those who were violated. Across from where I live was a gentleman who we think ended up being schizophrenic and terrorized our neighborhood for years(also his family- he assaulted his mother at least 2x). My car was damaged as were many of my neighbors over and over again. We tried everything and finally the only relief came when this person moved away. I know how much it stinks when this type of crime happens and I could not even imagine how it would feel to come back form a peaceful trek in the mtns and find my car damaged or undriveable. Hopefully we will not read another post about car damage or a burnt visitor center for some time.

There is a legal system in place to make all these decisions. It relies on police, plaintiffs, defendants, discovery, evidence, legal representation, pschychiatrists, judges, etc., and must wind its way through the system. There will be no quick resolution, no instant gratification.

When I saw a glimpse of this man's blog, I felt a tightness in my chest. The symptoms were all too familiar. My heart goes out to the family of this independent adult with biochemical imbalances and to all the victims of this rampage. It's easy to fix a broken windshield. Other things are more complicated.

There are 2 totally different ways of seeing the world represented in this string. It's just a mirror of the division that runs through the whole society. You can argue until you're blue in the face but you're not going to get someone with the other viewpoint to agree with you. Maybe we can say, OK, everyone's been heard from now, let's drop it.

On another but related note: On Tues., when the news of the arrest broke, I was talking to a Ranger in the Visitor Center. He felt that it was not at all sure that this one person was responsible for everything, including the fire at the Shulman Center and the car vandalism. It really does seem like two different types of attacks. It will all come out in time. Or else it won't.

I was sure glad that the family of the deer I hit last fall never tracked me down and asked me to 'fix it'...

...But the venison chops for Christmas dinner were sure tasty.

The thing that scared me the most, right next to the one car who'd brake line had been cut, was that he was picked up lurking around a school in Lone Pine. The things that were broken can be replaced. People can't be, and I'm very greatful that no one was physically injured by these actions. Yes, those car and home owners have to pay something out of their pockets for replacement. Yes, this man will be prosecuted and, if found guilty, held responsible for his actions. Yes, we were ALL affected, both directly and indirectly, by these actions, and it sucks. Let's just take this one step at a time.

I was one of the victims. I had the filler hose cut and gas taken. I coasted down to Bishop and was able to buy a radiator flex hose for the gas filler neck. I was out ~$100.00 and my time. I don’t know who did it and at this point it is out of my hands. Could have been the same person or somebody else.

Like I told the Deputy Sherriff, “I’m going home and putting a new gas hose on and moving on with my life.”

The legal system process, as it is, will proceed and we’ll wait and see the outcome out the other side.

I was going to sit this one out but….

I am actually a little more conservative than liberal (I know I shouldn’t discuss politics)!!! I agree that too many times excuses are used to justify someone’s behavior. That is simply not the case here. ClamberAbout quoted my earlier post where I stated if John is found guilty, he will have to take full responsibility. My family feels the same way. We are relieved he was picked up before anyone was hurt or ??? John will be tried through the legal system as Kim in PL stated. I also mentioned that John had not been in touch with the family for several years. It has been approximately 8 years with the exception of this past Dec./Jan. I’m not sure how I would be responsible. John has referred to his “Everest family” on another forum (his Mt. Everest teammates). Should they be contacted and asked to pay for damages John has caused? (Sorry, a bit of sarcasm.) I would offer my sympathies to those violated if John were an acquaintance or even someone I don’t know. And for the record, I never said my brother was crazy. I am not a professional physiatrist and to my knowledge, John has not been diagnosed. But he definitely shows signs of having a chemical imbalance.

Lastly, I would not call the discussion on this subject a "group hug". People are showing compassion and in my book, that is a great thing.

O.K. That’s it.

mc,
i am so sorry about the trouble your brother has gotten into and that it became a very public issue for you. just about every family has been touched by depression, mental illness, drug/alcohol dependency, etc. and it is sad and painful and sometimes makes victims out of the innocent.

i am so thankful that no one was physically hurt and i hope that John may get the help he needs to be healthy again. my heart goes out to you and your family.

with warm hugs,
norma

Mental illness? cmon I've had so many hard times in my life that have left me to desperation too but to go on a felony BINGE? I too have lost $560.oo and my insurance co. an additional $1300.00
plus I was stranded on Sunday and Labor day not being able to get a rental car. I spent probably 8 hours with the insurance company and Eastern Sierra Motors fixing my windshield, water in my tank, cut brake line stolen ignition key, heck it took 5 hours and 2 tow trucks to get my car down the mountain. Nice way to come out of the mountains eh? Then i had to spend the next weekend driving up from O.C. just to pick-up my car after it was fixed. So much time wasted on this when i could have been enjoying my much earned time off. So I'll forgive John when he pays back me, My insurance co., my friends that picked me up, and the hours that I spent getting out of this mess.John we all have problems but ya dont have to drag us all into it. If you want to make restitution to me give me a call at 714-292-4399 and we can set something up otherwise this poor hiker is out more than he can handle.

marks
When I am able to speak to John, I will pass your message and phone number on to him.

Today's story in the Sierra Wave.

I think (speaking from my own experience and reaction) that what infuriates and outrages most folks is when actions are taken that are deliberate, willful, and with conscious intent.

Under those circumstances we are rightfully outraged because it's inexcusible and often times, unforgivable.

In this case though, it's likely that the subject is not even aware of his actions, or not fully in control of them. Imagine the horror if that happened to you: One day you wake up and realize that you about to do something henious and you have absolutely no control to stop yourself. Or, you wake up one morning and recall a very strange vivid dream in which you did something horrible, but you can't seem to remember if it was real or just that - a dream.

I had a subordinate once who honestly, truly, completely believed that Boeing (yes, the aircraft company) was out to get her. I didn't believe it at first, but trust me, it was 'real' for her. Fully functional individual in society, (e.g. owned a home; could discuss advantages of paying an extra payment on her mortgage), but completely obsessed over being stalked by the big B.

In the case of those who willfully, consciously, and deliberately commit acts of vandalism or other crimes, I say "Hang 'em high"! I'm sick of it just like everyone else. (My pet peeve is people who run red lights, putting you and me and all of our family members lives at risk every time they do it! Why do we tolerate this?)

In this case, I daresay, John will do a very thorough job of punishing himself once he realizes someday what he did. And, if he's a man of honor, he may very well someday seek out those he wronged and indeed make restitution.

In the meantime, all the complaining about it in the world isn't going to change anything. It sucks, but you won't get restitution anytime soon. All we can all do is sympathize with you.