FWC Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report September 22, 2017 through September 28, 2017

(Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.) FWC Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report September 22, 2017 through September 28, 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 ESCAMBIA COUNTY Officer McHenry received a complaint that an individual was operating a PWC in a reckless manner in a small canal off Pensacola Bay. Shortly after arriving, the PWC was observed being operated at night and violating the idle speed zone. After being addressed, the operator of the PWC turned toward Officer McHenry, got within 15 feet of the dock and then fled. At a nearby boat ramp, a trailer for two PWCs was located and one was missing. The operator who fled was the owner of the second PWC. Officer McHenry contacted the operator and was arrested for fleeing and transported to jail. Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in Perdido River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) when he observed a man and woman trying to smoke methamphetamine while the woman’s three children were present. Both subjects were charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and accessing the management area after hours and were booked in the Escambia County Jail. GULF COUNTY Officer H. Webb observed a vessel at anchor on St Joe Bay with were four people on board. He noticed one was squatting down in front of the console cooler while the other three were standing around him looking down at him. As he greeted them, a large pile of whole bay scallops was seen dumped out in front of the cooler. The cooler was empty and dirty as though the scallops had just been dumped out of it. The captain said they were measuring their limit. He then asked Officer Webb if the bag limit was 3 gallons per person. Officer Webb corrected him with, “No, sir, it is two gallons per person per day.” After measuring their scallops, Officer Webb found they were in possession of 12 gallons of whole bay scallops – four gallons over their legal bag limit. The captain of the vessel was charged with over the daily bag limit of bay scallops. OKALOOSA COUNTY Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting state fisheries and boating safety inspections at the Cinco Bayou Boat Ramp. At about 2:00 am, he observed a boat returning to the ramp with fishing gear present. The vessel’s registration was expired. The fisheries inspection revealed a grossly undersized red drum. The operator acknowledged he knew the red drum was undersized. In addressing the expired vessel registration, Officer Corbin determined the operator had purchased the boat but failed to transfer the title/registration within the required 30-days. The individual was cited and issued notice to appear citations for undersized red drum and failure to transfer title. Officer Pifer was on land patrol conducting state fisheries inspections at the Alconese Fishing Pier in Ft. Walton Beach. He observed an individual actively engaged in fishing. The fisheries inspection revealed the individual was in possession of an egg bearing blue crab. The individual was issued a notice to appear citation. Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting state fisheries inspections at the Mariner Plaza in Cinco Bayou and observed individuals actively fishing from the seawall. The fisheries inspection of their cooler revealed two grossly undersized gray mangrove snapper. One individual was cited and issued a notice to appear citation. Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting state fisheries inspections at the Shalimar Bridge and observed several individuals actively fishing. One of the subjects had a cart with a white bucket which contained one mangrove snapper, one bluefish and one mullet. A fish tail underneath the bucket revealed an undersized red drum. The individual was issued a notice to appear citation. SANTA ROSA COUNTY Officer Hutchinson and Investigator Milstead observed two men selling shrimp on the side of Highway 90. They conducted a license and resource inspection and discovered that neither subject had the proper license to sell saltwater products. Both men were issued notices to appear for selling saltwater products without a retail dealers license. WASHINGTON COUNTY Officers Gore, Forehand, Baber and Burkhead checked a dove shoot in the Orange Hill area. Approximately ten hunters were shooting over a plowed field that had been baited with corn, birdseed, and other grains. A search of the hunters’ areas and a bag limit check revealed birds hidden in the bushes near two of the hunters. The subjects were cited for taking migratory birds over bait and the subjects who were over the limit were cited for taking over the daily bag limit of doves. SEARCH AND RESCUES OKALOOSA COUNTY Officers Jarvis and Maltais were requested by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in the search of a 14-year-old subject. The officers responded by water and searched the Destin Pass, Destin Bridge and jetty area for the subject. FWC Pilot Todd Tolbert along with Investigator Armstrong searched for the missing person from the air by helicopter. The Sheriff’s Office called off the search after several hours. The body of the subject was recovered near the West Jetty.

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