FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report September 1 through September 14, 2017

(Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.) FWC Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report September 1, 2017 through September 14, 2017 This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Patrol, Protect, Preserve NORTHWEST REGION CASES OKALOOSA COUNTY Officer Arnette received a call from a complainant advising there were subjects night hunting near his property in Blackman. The complainant got a tag number and gave it to Officer Arnette. Officer Rockwell located the registered owner and determined that her son and two of his friends were in the truck. She called them to come home to speak with Officer Rockwell. Lieutenant Hollinhead arrived to assist. After questioning, all three subjects admitted to attempting to take deer at night. Officer Rockwell issued each subject a notice to appear citation for attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light. Officer Nichols responded to a single vessel accident that occurred in Rocky Bayou. The accident involved a privately owned personal watercraft (PWC). The investigation revealed the operator of the PWC struck the Rocky Bayou Bridge piling. The impact caused the operator to be ejected off the PWC. The operator was transported to a local hospital for treatment for minor injuries. Officer Nichols was on vehicle/land patrol at Henderson Beach State Park. While traveling the eastern parking lot, the officer observed damage to a protected dune system. The officer observed large aggressive tire imprints on the protected sand dune, which led from the asphalt, over the concrete curb, over established protected dune vegetation and up the sand dune towards the top. As the officer continued along the curb, he observed a blue Jeep leaving the area. The Jeep had large tires with an aggressive tire pattern, which was like the tire imprints on the protected sand dune. As the officer got closer to the Jeep, he observed white beach sand from the sand dune attached to the interior of the rear tires. Officer Nichols initiated a traffic stop on the Jeep and observed white beach sand attached to the outer side walls of the tires. The officer determined this was the Jeep that drove on the dunes damaging this important ecosystem. The driver was issued notice to appear citations for leaving the designated roads and damaging plant life. Officer Bartlett and Investigators Molnar and Armstrong were on vessel patrol conducting boating safety inspections in the Crab Island area and observed a pontoon in violation of the idle speed/no wake zone. Officer Bartlett stopped the pontoon to address the violation and conduct a safety equipment check. The inspection revealed the pontoon was rented from a livery company. A boating safety inspection revealed that a screwdriver was being used to steer the vessel because the steering wheel had become inoperable the previous day. Officer Bartlett determined the vessel was not in seaworthy condition. The officer contacted the livery company and met them at a pre-determined location. An individual with the livery was issued a notice to appear citation for renting a vessel that was not seaworthy and not displaying boating safety information. A warning was issued for failure to provide pre-ride safety instructions. SANTA ROSA COUNTY Officer Mullins received a call of a derelict vessel in the Peterson Point area. Officer Mullins worked the investigation and identified and located the last registered owner for the vessel, met the subject and provided him information regarding his derelict vessel. The subject was issued a citation for leaving a vessel in derelict condition. Officer Mullins was on patrol in Yellow River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) when he observed a subject fishing in a creek. Officer Mullins began checking the subject and spoke with another subject standing by a vehicle. Officer Hutchinson arrived on scene to assist. During the inspection, the officers discovered that the subjects were in possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), drug paraphernalia and cannabis. The subjects were placed under arrest and booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail. Officers Hoomes and Roberson were loading their patrol vessel from a local boat ramp when they observed two subjects seated in a vehicle in the parking area. The officers observed one subject continually attempting to light a pipe. As the officers approached, the subject attempted to conceal the pipe. The officers determined the pipe contained cannabis. An additional bag of cannabis and other drug paraphernalia were in the vehicle. Both subjects were issued the appropriate citations. Officer Hutchinson was patrolling the Blackwater State Forest when he observed a truck turn onto a dirt road next to where he was conducting a traffic stop. The truck began spinning the tires, throwing dirt and gravel in the roadway. While the truck continued along the dead-end dirt road, Officer Hutchinson could hear his engine accelerating as he was spinning out. After completing the traffic stop, he drove along the dirt road and observed several places in the roadway where the truck had spun out causing ruts and throwing mud in the roadway. Officer Hutchinson located the truck and observed it spinning its tires in a small mud hole. When asked why he was tearing up the roadway, the driver stated, “I just put new tires on my truck and wanted to see if they would spin out.” Officer Hutchinson charged the man with destruction of state lands by a motor vehicle. Officer Hutchinson was on foot patrol within the Blackwater State Forest. While patrolling near a creek and a recreation area, he observed a large group of people recreating. He contacted the group and immediately observed a container, commonly used to conceal illegal narcotics, sitting on a chair. He located a plastic bag containing cannabis inside of it along with a marijuana smoking pipe. While continuing his search, he discovered a marijuana cigarette inside of an ice chest. Two men admitted ownership of the illegal items. Both men were issued the appropriate citations and given a court date. Lieutenant Hahr was observing a man and woman on the bank of a small creek in the Blackwater State Forest when the man suddenly began walking towards him. Lieutenant Hahr greeted the man who apparently didn’t recognize him immediately. As the man attempted to walk past him, Lieutenant Hahr saw a burning clump of cannabis fall to the ground. The man immediately handed the remainder of his cannabis cigarette to Lieutenant Hahr and received a notice to appear for possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis. Officer Lewis was working in the Blackwater State Forest when he observed a large group of campers along Juniper Creek. Upon contacting the campers, he immediately discovered one of them in possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia. The man was issued a notice to appear for the violations. Officers Cushing, Pettey and Land worked multiple days offshore in the Gulf of Mexico while aboard the NW Fincat. They were enforcing both state and federal marine fisheries regulations during the trips during Labor Day weekend. The crew conducted 45 offshore marine fisheries inspections, in which 16 different vessels were found to be in violation of federal rules. The vessel captains were cited for being in possession of gray triggerfish during a closed season. Additionally, a Florida state charter vessel captain was cited for operating a charter trip in federal waters without the proper federal permit. Officers Cushing and Pettey responded to the report of a capsized vessel 30 miles offshore of Pensacola while aboard the NW Fincat. When they arrived on scene, the three subjects had already been picked up by a Good Samaritan vessel without injury. A report of the accident was taken. WALTON COUNTY Lieutenant Clark responded to a single vessel boating accident near the Mid-Bay Bridge in Choctawhatchee Bay. Two individuals were pulled from the water by a Good Samaritan vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) arrived on scene and placed the individuals on their patrol vessel. They were transported to a local marina. Lieutenant Clark interviewed the operator and passenger. The vessel was a 32‑foot pontoon houseboat. The pontoon was returning to Pensacola from a five‑day trip. The operator stated he had concerns about the path Hurricane Irma was taking and decided to travel back home to Pensacola. The seas at the time of the accident were three to four feet in the bay with winds blowing approximately 20 mph. Due to the weather and the vessel being top heavy, the pontoon capsized. The husband and wife were not injured and were wearing their life jackets. DIRECTED CONSERVATION PATROLS SANTA ROSA COUNTY Officers Lugg and Ramos teamed up with local FWC Bear Biologist Green with a canvassing effort in an area where there have been ongoing bear issues. The officers issued five notices of non-compliance to residents with egregious trash violations and educated those who were following good bear awareness practices. Bear-proof trash can retrofit kits were issued to every house in the area at no cost to help alleviate the ongoing bear and trash can issues.

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