FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report June 22, 2018 through June 28, 2018

(Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.) FWC   Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report June 22, 2018 through June 28, 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 BAY COUNTY While returning from a recreational fishing trip out of Mexico Beach, Lieutenant Wass de Czege saw six individuals with numerous fish laid out on the fuel dock at the Mexico Beach Marina. Seven of the fish were triggerfish for which the season is currently closed. Lieutenant Wass de Czege contacted local Officer McMillion and asked him to come handle the violations. When Officer McMillion arrived, he interviewed the six individuals. The captain of the vessel took responsibility for the fish and received a citation for the violation. The fish were seized and donated to a local charity. ESCAMBIA Officer Land received a complaint regarding a Facebook post with photos of stone crab claws. Stone crab season is closed May 16 – October 14 each year. Officer Land contacted the individual who posted the photo of the stone crab claws. The individual admitted to harvesting the crabs during the closed season. The appropriate action was taken for the violation. FRANKLIN COUNTY Officer Travis was on patrol near the John Gorrie Bridgeand saw several subjects returning from fishing to their vehicles. Officer Travis conducted a resource inspection and found the subjects were in possession of eight undersized seatrout and one undersized bull shark. The fish were seized and two subjects were cited. LEON COUNTY While on patrol in the Highway 20 Tract of the Talquin State Forest, Officer Wilcox and Lieutenant Wass de Czege contacted two individuals who were driving through the area. During the encounter, the officers saw a small bag of white crystals fall out of a mask the male driver had in his hand. Further investigation revealed a larger bag of white crystals, a loaded syringe, and drug paraphernalia consisting of an empty syringe and two syringe caps with cotton in them – all in the possession of the female passenger. All items tested positive for methamphetamine and the two individuals were booked into the Leon County Detention Facility. OKALOOSA COUNTY Officers Pifer, Matechik, and Jarvis were on vessel patrol when they stopped a vessel in violation of the idle speed/no wake zone near Crab Island. During the vessel stop, the operator showed signs of impairment and admitted to consuming several alcoholic beverages. Officer Pifer administered standardized field sobriety tasks. Based on observations of the vessel in motion, personal contact with the operator, and the operator’s performance on the field sobriety tasks, Officer Pifer placed the operator under arrest for BUI. The operator agreed to provide a breath sample and the results were 0.169 blood alcohol content and 0.173 blood alcohol content. The operator was transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed. Officers Bartlett and Pifer were on vessel patrol in the Crab Island area and saw a 25- foot pontoon boat in violation of the idle speed/no wake zone. The officers stopped the vessel to address the violation. During the safety inspection, Officer Bartlett instructed the operator to locate and retrieve the required life jackets. The operator hesitated to the response and had a hard time maintaining his balance while walking around the pontoon vessel. In communication with the operator about his daily activities, Officer Bartlett saw he had slurred speech and continued to have a delayed response while answering simple questions. The operator agreed to perform field sobriety tasks (FST). The results from the FST showed indicators of impairment. The operator was arrested for BUI. The operator agreed to provide a breath sample and the results were 0.164 blood alcohol content and 0.153 blood alcohol content. The operator was transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed. Officers Corbin and Henderson were on vessel patrol when they stopped a personal watercraft (PWC) for careless operation and violation of the idle speed/no wake zone at Crab Island. The PWC was operating without due regard for the other boating traffic and swimmers. Officer Corbin determined the PWC was a rental. The operator was unable to locate the required safety equipment for the PWC. While speaking with the operator the officer detected a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. Based on the operation of the PWC, operator unable to locate safety equipment and the apparent consumption of an alcoholic beverage, Officer Corbin asked the operator to perform field sobriety tasks (FST). The operator had indicators of impairment from the FST and was arrested for BUI. The operator refused to provide a breath sample. The operator was transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed. This individual had two prior DUI arrest/convictions in 2015. Officer Corbin and Henderson received information of a hit and run boating accident in Shalimar from the U.S. Coast Guard Station Destin. Information received indicated a vessel struck a neighbor’s dock and left the scene. Officer Jarvis went by land to interview the witness and obtain a sworn statement. Officers Corbin and Henderson arrived on scene by vessel. Within a short period of time, the officers began to hear a loud vessel motor being revved up nearby. They began to travel toward the sound when they saw a red navigational light on a vessel not moving. They continued to hear the vessel’s motor rev up to the point it sounded like it was going to combust and traveled toward the red navigational light. They could also smell a strong odor of burnt gasoline and oil. The officers pulled alongside the vessel and saw one single occupant/operator on the boat. Also, they saw a fresh striking mark (damage) and missing chrome trim on the port bow of the vessel. Further, numerous items in the vessel were scattered across the deck and inside the cuddy cabin. Throughout Officer Corbin’s communication with the operator the operator showed indicators of impairment. The operator refused to perform field sobriety tasks and was arrested for BUI. The operator was transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed. The boating accident is still under investigation. Officers Bartlett and Pifer were on vessel patrol conducting boating safety inspections at Crab Island. The officers saw a double decker pontoon being operated in violation of the idle speed/no wake zone. A vessel stop was conducted for a safety inspection and to address the violation. There were 13 people onboard. During Officer Bartlett’s communication with the operator he saw indicators of impairment with his speech and movement around the vessel. The operator agreed to perform field sobriety tasks (FST). The results of the FST showed indicators of impairment. The operator was arrested for BUI. The operator provided a breath sample resulting in 0.150 blood alcohol content and 0.150 blood alcohol content. The operator was transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed. Officer Pifer was on vehicle patrol conducting fisheries inspections at Marler Park. The officer saw an individual in the process of trailering his vessel. In communication with the individual the officer determined there were harvested fish on the boat. The fisheries inspection revealed an undersized red grouper, an undersized red snapper and undersized vermilion snapper. The individual was cited and issued a notice to appear citation for the undersized red grouper and written warning for undersized red snapper/vermilion snapper. Officers Corbin and Henderson were on vessel patrol in the Destin Pass conducting boating safety and resource protection inspections. The officers saw a boat returning from the Gulf of Mexico displaying rods and reels. The officers stopped the vessel and conducted a safety inspection. During the inspection, the officers determined the vessel was returning from fishing trip. The fisheries inspection revealed an undersized cobia. The operator was cited and issued a notice to appear citation. WAKULLA COUNTY Officers Hughes and Korade were on water patrol in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico south of Wakulla County when they saw a fishing vessel approximately 9.5 nautical miles offshore. They made contact and conducted a resource inspection and found them in possession of an undersized gag grouper. The subject was advised that a summary settlement would be filed against him with NOAA for the violation. Officer Schulz was on foot patrol at the St. Marks Lighthouse when he saw several subjects wade fishing from the jetties. He met with them as they were walking back to their vehicle and conducted a resource inspection, which revealed an oversized red drum. The subject that claimed ownership of the fish was cited for possession of oversized red drum. WALTON COUNTY Officer Tison received a complaint of an individual killing an alligator. There were two witnesses who provided statements explaining that they had seen a man kill an alligator the previous weekend. The suspect was not personally known by the witnesses, but they had heard someone call him by his first name. A week-long investigation ensued, and through social media, the suspect’s identity was revealed. An interview of the suspect was conducted and he admitted to killing the alligator and also provided a sworn written statement stating that the witness’s accounts were true. The subject was charged for illegally killing an American alligator. COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING JACKSON On Thursday, members from the Northwest Region attended the landowners conference in Marianna held at Chipola College. Major Duval and Captain Lee gave a presentation on services provided by the Division of Law Enforcement, along with the contact information of local supervisors and officers from the area. Approximately 60 landowners from six counties in the Northwest Region attended the workshop. Lunch was provided by Farm Credit of Northwest Florida and members had the opportunity to sit with stakeholders over lunch to discuss all things FWC. WALTON COUNTY Officer Tison conducted a public outreach event at the First United Methodist Church of DeFuniak Springs. There were about 15 people in attendance and Officer Tison provided information on boating safety, legal updates regarding recreational saltwater fishing, and a basic overview of the daily duties of an FWC officer. DIRECTED CONSERVATION PATROL FEDERAL WATERS While aboard the offshore patrol vessel Fincat, Officers Cushing, Clark, Canfield, Garrison and Land proactively patrolled federal waters conducting numerous offshore patrol missions. Over several days and numerous inspections, the team documented many violations highlighted by two cases of over the daily bag limit of red snapper, two cases of failure to land red snapper in whole condition, possession of undersized red drum and harvest of gray triggerfish during closed season. While aboard the offshore patrol vessel Intrepid, Lieutenant Marlow, Investigator Weis, Officers Nelson and Ramos patrolled federal waters throughout the week conducting numerous offshore patrols. The team discovered multiple violations to include two cases of over the bag limit of red snapper, two cases of undersized red snapper, two cases of using reef fish as bait, two cases of harvesting greater amberjack during closed season, harvesting gray triggerfish during closed season, undersized vermillion snapper and a charter fishing vessel operating without a valid reef fish permit and no charter permit. While aboard the offshore patrol vessel Intrepid, Lieutenant Marlow and Officers Boyd, Nelson and Richardson were on patrol in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico south of Gulf County. They received information of a commercial longline vessel fishing in a restricted area for reef fish harvest. The officers travelled 70 miles and located the vessel in the restricted area fishing. The vessel had a significant amount of reef fish aboard. The fish, gear and venue were documented and federal and state officers met the vessel at the dock the following day to further document their reef fish harvest. The fish were seized by the federal officer. COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING JEFFERSON COUNTY Lieutenant Wass de Czege participated in two summer camp events at the Beau Turner Youth Conservation Center. He taught the laws portion of the subject safety course to the 15 youths in attendance. After the law presentation, he went to the fish camp area and gave a talk about boating safety to the 15 kids present. Officer Stefanie Wilcox and Lieutenant Albert Wass de Czege participated in the 68th annual Watermelon Festival Parade in Monticello. They pulled an airboat through the parade and threw candy to awaiting children along the route. The Watermelon Festival takes place annually on the 3rd weekend in June. The weeklong event includes pageants, a car show, a rodeo, booths and several other events.

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