Get ready, this will take a bit to get through everything. As far as this reporter can tell, David Flash was having a generally good time in the Big Bend Region until a trip to Davis Mountains State Park in April 2023. David Flash works in ad tech. Ad tech in a nutshell is marketing for the internet. Think Facebook, Google, etc, only in this instance it’s done on a very small scale. These people will setup websites that reproduce content from other places and then promote their own websites on social media, all to drive more traffic and hopefully make them money. Flash has a number of these sites all linking to each other. April 2023 was around the time one of his sites, bigbendtimes.com, had begun posting huge amounts of articles and surely driving a lot of traffic to Flash’s other clickbait sites and his social media accounts. That was also the month that something happened at Davis Mountains State Park that would change the nature of bigbendtimes.com forever. David describes the incident in an article that strangely was not posted until about six months after it happened. If one examines the other articles David posted around that time, one can get an idea of how this all may have started.
On October 10, 2023, David posts The Strangest Article About a Traffic Stop I’ve Ever Read. David writes that he saw an “incident that has since given me deep cause for concern.” David then goes on to describe how local State Park Police Officer Jacob Barton had pulled someone over. Flash complains Officer Barton pulled the car over on the side of the road in “grass tall enough to brush its catalytic converter and ignite a wildfire.” The picture posted with the article shows the vehicle parked in grass that was green and clearly recently mowed. Feels like a bit of a stretch to call out a police officer for pulling someone over. David also complains in this paragraph that Officer Barton “might have been the sole State Park Police office on duty during this busy period near the park.” Again, a strange complaint to make without more facts. Perhaps there are few incidents at the state park and Barton has plenty of time to do a traffic stop when he feels it is warranted. Or Barton may know that if something happens and he is needed, he can abandon the traffic stop and respond immediately.
David continues his complaint by claiming he “discerned that the driver lacked a valid driver’s license and had no vehicle registration.” How he did this readers are left to wonder. David continues his complaint by stating that there were a bunch of inconsistencies yet Officer Barton allowed the vehicle to be driven to “Northeast Fort Davis.” One would think David knows the location the car was driven to. Why doesn’t he include that fact in the story?
David Flash concludes this article by letting us know that he filed a formal complaint against Officer Barton. This reporter feels after reading this article that David Flash has an ax to grind with Officer Barton. He seems to be searching for any possible thing to complain about that he can add to his internet postings. Looking a couple of days after this post at bigbendtimes.com we get a better idea of how the grudge started.
Two days later, on October 12th, 2023 David posted an article about how he failed to follow the rules and got caught and then never let it go. David starts by writing “…I find it imperative to recount a disconcerting encounter that unfolded during a seemingly routine evening hike in Davis Mountains State Park in mid-April of 2023.” Claiming to be an introvert, David writes that when he got to the park after the office closed, he was expecting to fill out an entry form himself. But that day the park hosts were assisting people filling out their forms, something David claims “This was a departure from the norm…” David must not have followed up before writing that, as this reporter has seen park hosts assisting people with after hours check in many times. That entire paragraph reads:
“Upon my belated arrival, I noticed a group of park host volunteers diligently assisting arriving visitors with self-serve forms and providing park maps. This was a departure from the norm, as I usually filled out the envelope before embarking on my hikes, a practice I consider important to notify the park authorities of my presence. However, on this evening, I didn’t owe any fees and was confident I could complete the process post-hike. I displayed my park pass prominently to eliminate any potential confusion.”
What that says is that David, perhaps just recently purchasing an annual pass didn’t yet understand how it works, didn’t follow the procedure for late check in and got caught. David claims to know the importance of notifying park authorities of his presence, but in the next sentence says he will complete the process “post-hike.” Just so readers know, that’s not how it works. One must let the park know you are here BEFORE hiking. David claims he didn’t owe any fees and would check in post hike. The paragraph concludes “I displayed my park pass prominently to eliminate any potential confusion.” What David describes, as far as this reporter can tell, is David driving up, seeing park hosts and not wanting to talk to them, held up his park pass and continued on without checking in. The park hosts would then be duty bound to report this to park police.
David descries going for a hike and when he returns to his vehicle, there’s a violation notice on it. He writes “I assumed it was a routine warning and didn’t pay it much heed, as I was certain I had already paid my dues.” Flash seems to be confused about the difference between having an annual park pass and checking in. If one enters a state park and does not check in while holding an annual pass, the park does not get and funding for that visit. Parks receive funds from the state park pass program when visitors check in when enter the park. It doesn’t happen magically just because you hold up a pass and drive past the check in. This is the main point that Flash doesn’t seem to understand.
Next Flash describes getting a phone call a few days later. And this seems to be where the grudge really takes hold. None other than Office Barton, beloved by the community, calls David Flash to give him a warning. David doesn’t write in the post if he stopped on the way out of David Mountains State Park during his visit to fill out the check in form. One would think that if he did, he would write about that fact. Big Bend Times Dot Org reached out to Texas Parks and Wildlife to confirm if a check in form was filled out by David Flash that day in April and are waiting for a response at this time. But if Officer Barton reached out by phone, one can assume it’s very unlikely Flash ever did fill out his form. He writes:
“However, what followed was a bizarre twist of events. Several days later, my phone rang, and Davis Mountains Park Police Officer Jacob Barton was on the line. He questioned me about the missing self-serve pass on my car and subtly implied that I could be subject to arrest for failing to pay for park entrance. This unfounded accusation and veiled threats left me utterly baffled and, admittedly, irate.”
David says the accusation, that he had a missing self-serve pass, as David clearly admits, was unfounded. But by his own telling, it was not. And one can find it hard to understand how giving someone a warning about not following the rules could be considered a veiled threat. David was baffled and irate because he got caught not following the rules. And David clearly still didn’t understand six months later that you can’t just display your annual pass, you have to check in like everyone else.
In the concluding paragraph Flash writes “Six months have elapsed since that unsettling incident, and no false charges have been filed against me. However, the memory of Officer Barton’s unwarranted aggression and unnecessary threats still casts a shadow over my otherwise peaceful hikes.” So David failed to check in when entering a state park, got a phone call warning him about it, and six months later no charges were filed, but the “unwarranted aggression and unnecessary threats” still cast a shadow. This was all written two days after David wrote the strange article about Officer Barton’s traffic stop. Seems like David Flash has a problem with authority and is using bigbendtimes.com to publicize his grudge.
Next Flash wrote articles detailing “anonymous reports” related to Officer Barton. One where officer Barton was doing his job in Balmorhea and pulled up to a house with lights flashing. David claims the person who was in the house “though as though they were in a hostage situation.” David also uses this post to retell the story where he failed to check in property at the state park. It’s hard to tell if David Flash talked to the person in Balmorhea himself, or maybe just saw a post on FB. Perhaps he made the store up. Flash claims to have received an anonymous report in this instance. But the story, if true, would reveal the source to the one person that source would most want to remain anonymous from, Officer Barton himself. If this story is based on fact in some way, Barton surely remembers it. Is Flash hiding any facts about this anonymous report because he doesn’t want anyone else following up on his story?
Another story was posted by Barton that once again rehashed his previous gripes while airing a new one. Texas Parks and Wildlife praised Officer Barton for his history of dedication and service, and Flash clearly wasn’t happy. He concludes this article about himself being mad about Barton getting praise by writing: “The agency’s stance on social media has clearly stirred the pot in the ongoing debate about Officer Barton’s conduct and the policing practices in the iconic natural environments.” This reporter hasn’t been able to identify anyone who believes there is any debate about Officer Barton’s conduct or policing practices in our community. In fact, this reporter has only heard great praise for Officer Barton from people all over Jeff Davis County.
Unfortunately, this reporter isn’t done with documenting David Flash’s ridiculous grudge with State Park Police Officer Jacob Barton. Another post by David in November 2023, about seven months after David got caught breaking the rules at David Mountains State Park, David apparently called Captain Thomas Bigham on Oct 3rd. Flash claims this call “took a troubling turn.” He further states “Throughout the 18-minute conversation, Bigham repeatedly interrupted me and engaged in arguments over points that had already been conceded.” This journalist wonders what point had already been conceded? Had Flash already admitted to breaking the rules when he entered Davis Mountains State Park the previous April, but didn’t want to document that fact for his readers? David writes that he has since also filed a complaint regarding Captain Bigham. Is David intentionally creating problems with State Park Police so he can write about it on his website?
There is one final story to mention when detailing David Flash’s grudge against Texas State Park Police. Texas Highways Magazine did an article detailing the brave acts of Officer Jacob Barton when hikers needed assistance in Big Bend Ranch State Park. It details how Barton came all the way from Davis Mountains State Park to Big Bend Ranch State Park to assist in searching for a lost hiker. The article states “Even though he and the other rescuer he hiked with had brought an abundance of water, they ran out as they hiked—a first for Barton.” David Flash describes it this way:
“Officer Barton’s recent statement in Texas Highways Magazine, acknowledging the extreme conditions he faced with the phrase “My brain was baked,” has inadvertently shone a light on a more pressing issue. The state-run publication’s account, while detailing the harsh environmental challenges, seems to have glossed over a critical lapse in preparedness on Barton’s part. This oversight raises serious concerns: What if they had located the victim, in desperate need of water, and had none to offer? What if Barton and his team had themselves become in need of rescue due to their lack of preparation?”
David ignores the part of the article that explains how Barton had brought an abundance of water and instead tries to make the heroic rescue of a lost hiker into a bad thing. Flash seems to be looking for anything he can find to turn into a complaint about Officer Barton. Anyone who lives in the Big Bend knows what it feels like to walk in the sun and feel like your brain was baked. Officer Barton deserves the community’s thanks for his impressive acts to save someone in need. Hopefully Barton can get some relief as it seems that Flash has moved on to other grudges and hasn’t posted about Office Barton in some time.
This reporter hopes that anyone who has donated to Flash’s GoFundMe will consider requesting a refund. It doesn’t seem like David is really trying to fight corruption but that he is manufacturing controversy to drive traffic to his clickbait websites.
Can you contact me (anon is ok)? Working on a story. Thank you!
Sent you an email at 3:38PM yesterday