FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report March 2, 2018 through March 8, 2018

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FWC

 

Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report

March 2, 2018 through March 8, 2018

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 completed his investigation on a derelict vessel located in the Santa Rosa Sound. The owner of the vessel claimed he sold it, but did not have a bill of sale or proof of transferred title. Officer Allgood issued the subject a notice to appear citation for the derelict vessel. Citations were also issued for improper lighting and expired registration.

Officer Pettey issued a notice to appear citation to an individual for turkey hunting in a closed season in McDavid. The individual was discovered turkey hunting by a hunting club member who relayed the information. After an interview, the subject admitted to hunting turkey out of season. Charges were filed with the State Attorney’s Office for attempting to take turkey out of season.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

Officers Richardson, Sauls, Kossey, Peterson, Hofheinz, Reserve Officer Martin, and Lieutenant Cook conducted a special detail in St. George Island State Park. Officer Richardson organized the detail to address the increased number of visitors to St. George Island for the Annual Chili Cookoff. The detail focused on areas in the state park where shorebirds are actively nesting. During the detail, four infractions, four written warnings, and six verbal warnings were issued for state park violations.

Officer Travis was targeting undersized oysters in the Eastpoint area and conducted a resource inspection at the Eastpoint Boat Ramp. The vessel had four people on board and nine bags of oysters. During the inspection, he checked the size tolerance of two bags. The first bag contained 61% undersized oysters and the second bag contained 63% undersized oysters. Two subjects were cited for possession of undersized oysters and the small oysters were returned to the Apalachicola Bay alive.

Officer Kossey was on patrol in the Tate’s Hell Wildlife Management Area. He approached a truck on the Gully Branch Road and contacted several subjects that were looking for snakes and other reptiles. During his resource inspection, one of the subjects, a convicted felon, had a pistol in his truck’s glovebox. The subject was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

GADSDEN COUNTY

Officers Hildebrand and Johnson were on water patrol on the Little River and observed a man fishing with a rod and reel close to a boat ramp. A resource inspection revealed that the subject did not have a valid fishing license. As Officer Hildebrand talked with the subject, he smelled the odor of cannabis. Dispatch advised the officers that the subject had two active warrants out of Leon County and one out of Suwanee County. The subject was arrested and Officer Hildebrand asked the subject if he had any drugs on him and he replied that he had a “joint” in his tackle box. Officer Hildebrand checked the tackle box and located the cannabis. A physical arrest was made and appropriate citations were issued.

OKALOOSA COUNTY

A boating accident investigation completed in 2017 by Investigator Molnar recently resulted in a guilty verdict resulting in a $1,000 fine and one-year probation from the court. The investigation involved an operator and one other occupant running through a dock causing more than $36,000 in damage including damage to the boat and the dock. Investigator Molnar subpoenaed the operator’s medical blood which resulted in a BAC of .175. The operator was later arrested and charged with BUI causing property damage and injury to another as well as violation of navigational rules 5 (improper lookout) and 6 (safe speed).

Officer Corbin was on vessel patrol conducting boating safety and resource inspections in the Destin Harbor when he observed a 10-foot vessel operating with an expired boat registration and no registration displayed on the starboard side. The officer observed the small boat leaving an anchored sailboat in the harbor and heading toward land. Officer Corbin contacted Officer Pifer, who was on land patrol, and directed him to the location of where the small boat docked. Officer Pifer contacted the operator and conducted a boating safety inspection. The officer noticed discrepancies with the vessel’s title. The vessel was registered as a 2016 10-foot homemade vessel and had a hull identification number (HIN) assigned to it that was different than the HIN number attached to the vessel. The vessel was identified as a 2001 10-foot Alumacraft. The registration expired on 10/13/17. The officers confirmed that the operator had been the owner of the vessel for a year, but had failed to transfer the title to his name. The owner stated he had not received the vessel title from the previous owner/seller. The owner provided the name of the person he purchased the boat from which matched the current registered owner of the stopped vessel. The officers concluded the stop and advised the new owner they would research the discrepancies and would be in contact later. The research determined the previous owner/seller had falsely/fraudulently titled the vessel as a homemade boat. Warrants were obtained and filed against the previous owner/seller for three felonies: title fraud, filing a fraudulent certificate of title and false statement and one misdemeanor for failure to notify the Department of Highway Safety Motor Vehicle (DHSMV) for selling the vessel.

Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting boating safety and resource inspections when he observed an individual actively working on a vessel docked behind a hotel in Fort Walton Beach. In conversation with the individual, the officer noticed the vessel displayed an expired registration. Officer Corbin determined from the bill of sale the individual was also the owner of the vessel since November 2016. The new owner failed to transfer the vessel’s title into his name within 30 daysfrom purchase. The owner was issued a notice to appear citation.

Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting resource protection on Eglin Wildlife Management Area when he observed a group of individuals congregating around a campsite off Little Rocky Creek. The officer observed the subjects discarding what appeared to be beer cans on the ground and in the bushes. Officer Corbin determined the five individuals were underage and consuming alcoholic beverages. Further, the individuals failed to obtain the required Eglin Camping Permit. Five subjects were cited and issued a notice to appear citation for possessing/consuming alcoholic beverage.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Hutchinson was patrolling in Blackwater State Forest when he observed a campsite where a man and woman were packing up. As he pulled up, the man threw items under a log. A quick look revealed drug paraphernalia. A closer look revealed numerous items of drug paraphernalia and several containers with cocaine in various forms. The subjects were also in possession of methamphetamine. The woman admitted to making crack cocaine in the campsite and smoking methamphetamine. Both subjects were charged with manufacturing crack cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia and booked in the Santa Rosa County Jail.

Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in Blackwater State Forest when he observed a campsite where some of the people were drinking alcoholic beverages. As he approached them, the five subjects passed around a cannabis pipe and each of them smoked from it. Lieutenant Hahr identified himself and seized the pipe, a bag of cannabis, and numerous items of drug paraphernalia. All five subjects were charged with possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers Ramos, Lugg, Wilkerson, Clark, Long, Cushing and Land participated in targeted enforcement of pompano regulations along Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escambia County beaches. The officers checked more than 200 anglers in a two-week span resulting in 5 citations and 12 warnings for various violations.

Officer Ramos was patrolling the Santa Rosa Sound and observed a vessel operating in the Quietwater Beach area. A routine boating safety inspection was conducted and the operator could not produce two required safety items or the required registration. He stated he bought the boat two years ago but could not produce a bill of sale or any type of registration. Officer Ramos followed the vessel to a nearby boat ramp where the operator recovered the vessel from the water. The truck used to pull the boat did not have a registration tag on it nor the vessel trailer. After a thorough investigation, the operator was deemed to have purchased the out-of-state vessel in 2013 and failed to transfer the title. The truck he was driving had an expired registration of 2016. The owner was issued a criminal citation for failing to record an out of state vessel, a traffic citation for expired vehicle registration greater than 6 months, a boating citation for failing to carry required safety equipment, as well as multiple warnings for other violations.

Officer Ramos observed two men return from a fishing trip and followed them to a local boat ramp. The vessel was pushing a wake in an idle speed zone until they saw the officer approach. After a boating safety inspection, Officer Ramos asked if the men had caught any fish. The men showed him ten gray snapper and several unregulated fish in a cooler. Upon measuring the snapper, seven of the ten were undersized. The captain of the vessel admitted he should have measured the fish and took responsibility for the seven undersized fish. The fish were seized and the man was cited for the undersized fish and issued a warning for violating the idle speed zone.

WAKULLA COUNTY

While on patrol in the St. Marks area, Officer Morales noticed a vessel approaching a dock. The vessel struck the dock hard and the two occupants appeared to be having a hard time mooring to it. Officer Morales approached the vessel and occupant to see if he could assist. After securing the vessel, Officer Morales conducted a boating safety and fisheries inspection. The inspection revealed multiple violations pertaining to vessel registration and possession of undersized hogfish. During the inspection, it was also determined that one of the occupants had an active arrest warrant. The subject was placed under arrest and the violations were cited.

LEON COUNTY

Officers from Leon and Jefferson Counties provided law enforcement support for the reenactment of the 153th Anniversary of the Battle of Natural Bridge. The battle took place in March of 1865 and preserved Tallahassee's status as the only Southern capital east of the Mississippi not conquered by Union forces during the Civil War. Lieutenant Field brought out the command bus and Duty Officers Strickland, Helton and Souders used it as their base of operations. The duty officers were in charge of ensuring that reenactors met eligibility requirements before they could participate in the reenactment. Lieutenant Olson, Investigator Bryant, and Officers Johnson, Wilcox, Pekerol, and Lieutenant Wass de Czege provided law enforcement support throughout the event. More than 1,300 visitors attended the reenactment without serious incident.

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