Bushkill Man Sentenced for High-Speed Chase in Park

Christopher Fish, 35, of Bushkill, Pennsylvania, is under lock and key — albeit at home — after leading National Park rangers on a heart-pounding, high-speed motorcycle chase through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The brazen flight, captured in full by law enforcement reports, ended not in bloodshed but in federal sentencing, a reminder that even non-lethal recklessness draws hard time.

Fish was sentenced on February 10, 2017, by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani to four months of home-confinement and two years of supervised probation. The charge? Fleeing and eluding federal park rangers — a felony that, under the wrong circumstances, could’ve ended in tragedy. Instead, it serves as a cautionary tale of one man’s split-second decision to run.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brander, Fish was seen speeding through the park on a black Honda Shadow motorcycle, blatantly ignoring signals to stop. When confronted by a uniformed ranger, he gunned the engine, weaving through park roads at dangerous speeds, putting officers and pedestrians at risk. The chase wasn’t brief — it unfolded over multiple park zones, escalating into a pursuit that tested both protocol and patience.

No shots were fired. No vehicles collided. But the danger was real. Prosecutors emphasized the potential for disaster: a child stepping onto a trail, a ranger forced off the road, a single misjudged turn into the Delaware River gorge. Fish’s actions, they argued, weren’t just illegal — they were a direct threat to public safety in one of the region’s most visited natural landmarks.

The case was investigated by the National Park Service, whose officers often operate in legal gray zones between local and federal jurisdiction. Yet here, their authority held firm. Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan Gotlob secured the conviction without a trial, likely through a guilty plea that spared victims and witnesses a courtroom ordeal.

Fish now serves his sentence behind the walls of his own home, monitored and restricted. But the shadow of his actions stretches beyond Bushkill — into the woods and roads of the recreation area where families hike, swim, and trust that the law moves slower than danger. This time, it didn’t. Justice caught up — not with sirens, but with paperwork and a judge’s gavel.