FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report June 21, 2019 through June 27, 2019

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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report

Patrol, Protect, Preserve

June 21, 2019 through June 27, 2019

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.

NORTHWEST REGION

CASES

BAY COUNTY

Officer N. Basford was on water patrol in Grand Lagoon when she received a complaint from FWC dispatch that the United States Coast Guard needed assistance with an impaired operator at the St. Andrews Marina. Officer Basford arrived on scene and contacted the US Coast Guard. They told Officer Basford that the operator had performed field sobriety tasks for them and he showed signs of impairment. Officer Basford noticed the smell of an alcoholic beverage coming from the operator and that his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Officer Basford asked the operator if he would perform field sobriety tasks for her at which time he refused. The operator also refused to provide a breath sample. The operator was cited for operating a vessel with normal faculties impaired while being accompanied in the vessel by persons under the age of 18 years. The operator was booked into the Bay County Jail.

Investigator Williams and Officers Gore and Parrish responded to two missing juveniles and one adult swimmer on Econfina Creek near Pitt Springs. The girls were vacationing from Texas. not familiar with the area, and was sundown approaching. Officer Parrish was able to launch a boat, locate the missing swimmers on a bank and bring them back safely to their family.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Officers Ramos and Long were on vessel patrol in an idle speed zone when they spotted a personal water craft (PWC) casting a wake and passing other vessels. They contacted the operator of the PWC who showed multiples signs of impairment. The operator was placed under arrest for boating under the influence and transported to the Escambia County Jail.

OKALOOSA COUNTY

Lieutenant Molnar and Officer Clark were on water patrol in Destin Harbor when they conducted a boating safety inspection on a vessel with seven persons onboard. During the inspection the operator showed indicators of impairment. Officer Clark asked the operator if he would perform the standardized field sobriety tasks and the operator agreed. The operator was arrested for boating under the influence and provided breath samples of 0.147 and 0.149 at Coast Guard Station Destin. The operator was cited for boating under the influence and transported to the Okaloosa County Jail.

Officers Clark and Wilkenson were on water patrol in Destin Harbor when they saw a vessel with two individuals violating the idle speed-no wake zone. A vessel stop was conducted to address the boating violation and to perform a boating safety inspection. During the inspection, Officer Clark detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from the operator. The operator agreed to perform standardized field sobriety tasks and was placed under arrest for boating under the influence. At Coast Guard Station Destin, the subject provided a breath sample of .230 and .231. The operator was cited for boating under the influence and transported to the Okaloosa County Jail.

Officers Wilkenson and Long were on water patrol near Crab Island when they saw a pontoon vessel violating the idle speed/no wake zone. After stopping the vessel to address the boating violation, the officers noticed there was a large amount of empty alcoholic beverages onboard the vessel and the operator showed signs of impairment. They asked the operator to perform field sobriety tasks and he refused. The operator was arrested for boating under the influence and refused to provide a breath sample.

Officers Mims and Maltais were on water patrol near Crab Island when they saw a personal watercraft driving erratically in violation of the idle speed/no wake zone. A vessel stop was conducted to address the boating violation and the operator showed several signs of impairment. Officer Mims conducted field sobriety tasks and the operator was found to be under the influence and was placed under arrest. The operator later provided a breath sample of a 0.125 and 0.133 breath alcohol level.

Lieutenant Molnar, Officer Pifer and Officer Clark were on water patrol at Crab Island when they conducted a vessel stop on a pontoon boat for violation of the idle speed/no wake zone. During the boating safety inspection, Officer Pifer determined the vessel was a rental from a nearby livery and did not have any suitable life jackets for the three small children who were onboard. The officers spoke to the livery staff who stated they overlooked putting the child size life jackets onboard the vessel. Officer Pifer issued a notice to appear citation to the livery employee that provided the pre-ride instructions for renting a vessel without providing the proper safety equipment.

Officers Long and Hahr were on water patrol in Destin Harbor when they saw the operator of a rental vessel violating the no-wake zone. During the vessel stop and safety inspection, the operator showed several indicators of impairment. After conducting field sobriety tasks, the subject was arrested for boating under the influence. The subject provided a breath sample of .164, was cited accordingly, and transferred to the Okaloosa County Jail.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

K9 Officer Hutchinson received a call about a teenage male subject who was missing at the Blackwater State Park. The teenager had been missing for over 24 hours after wrecking his truck on the previous day. Officer Hutchinson established the teens last known location, which was a parking lot inside Blackwater State Park. Officer Hutchinson deployed his K9 partner Zara and conducted an area search. After searching for approximately 45 minutes in a thick swamp, K9 Zara located the teenager down an embankment sitting in the water and wedged between a tree and the river bank. When Officer Hutchinson contacted him he was unable to speak clearly and showed signs of severe dehydration. Officer Hutchinson provided him fresh drinking water and stabilized him to keep him from passing out in the river. Officers H. Rockwell and Hoomes who were assisting with the search were notified that the teen was located. They retrieved a canoe from the state park and paddled to Officer Hutchinson’s location. The teen was unable to stand or move. The officers put him in the canoe and maneuvered it upriver. The teen was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Officers responded to a report of an airboat accident with people in the water on the Wacissa River in Jefferson County. Upon arriving on the scene, Officer Wilcox and Lieutenant Wass de Czege, with the help of Jefferson County Sheriff’s units, were able to determine that there were no injuries and all (2) occupants of the vessel were accounted for. Upon contacting the vessel operator, who was still in the driver’s seat of the airboat, Officer Wilcox noticed signs of alcohol impairment and began a BUI investigation. The airboat driver was booked into the Jefferson County Jail for operating a vessel while impaired.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Investigator Williams found a group of individuals trespassing in a posted, closed area of Williford Springs on Econfina Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA). This area was damaged severely by the hurricane last year and is currently closed to public access. One of the five had an alcohol violation and a warrant for their arrest in Washington County. Five individuals were cited accordingly for the WMA rule violations. The subject with the warrant was placed under arrest and transported to the Washington County Jail.      

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