Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report
Patrol, Protect, Preserve
September 27, 2019 through October 3, 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
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Specialist Clark received information about an individual who left a marina in a vessel who appeared impaired and was operating the vessel recklessly. He located the vessel in Pensacola Bay and the operator showed several signs of impairment. After field sobriety tests, the operator was arrested for boating under the influence and was transported to the Escambia County Jail.
Officer Pettey and Investigator Livesay worked opening day of dove season in north Escambia County. After conducting several inspections, they found two individuals hunting over a food plot that had recently been baited. Both subjects were issued citations accordingly.
Officer Specialist McHenry completed a derelict vessel investigation. The individual was criminally charged for the violation of failing to remove the derelict vessel out of Bayou Chico. He was also cited for failing to transfer the title and for not having proper vessel lighting at night.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Officers McLeod and Swindell were patrolling the Gulf of Mexico when they saw a boat with multiple fishing rods. As they approached the vessel a subject indicated they had divers in the water. The boat was not displaying a diver down flag. The officers conducted a resource inspection and found the subjects were in possession of an undersize gag grouper, hog fish, and flounder. The appropriate citations were issued.
Officers Hartzog and Nelson detected the odor of marijuana coming from a vehicle while conducting an inspection of several individuals fishing in Eastpoint. The owner of the vehicle told the officers he had an ounce of marijuana under the driver’s seat of his vehicle. The officers located the bag of marijuana along with other drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle. The marijuana weighed 26 grams. The owner of the vehicle was charged accordingly
HOLMES COUNTY
Lieutenant Walsingham and Officers Yates, Homan and Parrish investigated a report of an illegal dove shoot on opening day. The field was baited with a mix of bird seed. Nine citations were issued for taking dove over bait and two citations were issued for over the daily bag limit. One warning was issued for no migratory bird permit.
JACKSON COUNTY
Officer Forehand located a baited dove field a few days prior to the opening weekend of dove season. On opening morning, Officers Forehand, Humphrey, Scott and Baber conducted a resource inspection of five subjects shooting doves over the baited field. All five subjects were cited.
Officer Forehand observed three subjects shooting doves in a field. Lieutenant Allen responded to assist. Once the subjects stopped hunting, they walked to a nearby residence. Lieutenant Allen responded to the residence and checked two of the three subjects. The third subject was behind the residence with a bucket containing 35 doves. Officer Forehand checked the field and found that it had been baited with scratch feed. The officer’s investigation revealed 33 more doves that had been dumped in the bushes next to the residence. The suspects admitted dumping the dove in the bushes upon Lieutenant Allen’s arrival at the residence. All three subjects were cited accordingly.
While on patrol, Officer Forehand located two individuals actively shooting doves. Officer Forehand walked the field and found a large amount of cracked corn and wheat seed. Both subjects were cited for taking dove over bait.
On Sunday evening, Officers Humphrey and Scott heard gunshots coming from a lake known for duck hunting. They located a truck parked near the lake and continued hearing shots past legal shooting hours. After dark, the officers heard the vehicle start up to leave. As the truck was leaving the area, Officer Scott conducted a resource stop. He found a subject who stated that he had shot at some ducks. In the meantime, Officer Humphrey located four wood ducks behind the suspect’s vehicle. The suspect admitted to shooting the wood ducks and throwing them out of the truck when he saw the FWC patrol vehicle approaching. The suspect was cited accordingly.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officer Hahr was contacted by Eglin Range Patrol to assist with a group of subjects who were illegally harvesting palmetto berries from the Eglin Wildlife Management Area (WMA). When the officer arrived on scene, he saw five individuals in a vehicle that were in possession of 24 bags of palmetto berries. None of the subjects had a permit to harvest or transport the palmetto berries. They also did not have a permit to access the WMA from Eglin’s Natural Resources Office. Officer Hahr arrested the three adults who could not be identified and booked them into the Okaloosa County Jail. The driver of the vehicle was issued a notice to appear citation and the juvenile involved was turned over to the driver with no charges filed. The palmetto berries were seized and returned to the landowner.
Officer Maltais was patrolling the Eglin Wildlife Management Area (WMA) when he conducted a traffic stop on a U-Haul truck occupied by six individuals suspected of illegally harvesting palmetto berries. When the vehicle stopped, five of the occupants fled on foot into the woods. Officer Maltais contacted the driver and saw harvest buckets, string, a few empty bags, and approximately 50 bags of palmetto berries. The driver was arrested and booked into the Okaloosa County Jail for no harvest permit and no Eglin WMA access permit. A records search revealed that the individual had been previously arrested in Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County within the last 30 days for similar offenses.
Officer Specialist Rockwell and Officer Specialist Corbin were contacted by Eglin Range Patrol to assist with a traffic stop on Eglin Reservation. During the traffic stop, the Range Patrol saw palmetto berries in the bed of the vehicle. The officers arrived on scene and all three subjects were identified. The driver of the vehicle did not have a driver license. None of the subjects had a harvest permit or an Eglin WMA access permit. All three subjects were arrested and cited appropriately.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Lewis was on patrol when he saw a baited hook and line tied to a tree in a manner to attract alligators. He spoke with a subject utilizing the boat ramp near the location of the baited line. The subject had a permit to harvest alligators and had placed the baited hook to see what was out there. The officer explained to him that it is a violation to hang a baited hook whether the intent is to harvest alligators or not. The subject was cited appropriately.
WAKULLA COUNTY
Officers Schulz was patrolling the Apalachicola Management Area when he saw a vehicle hidden off the side of the road. He contacted Lieutenant Kilpatrick to assist in locating the individuals and found them harvesting saw palmetto berries. Two subjects were cited for the illegal harvest of saw palmetto berries and one was arrested and booked into the Wakulla County Jail.
FEDERAL WATERS
Officers Cushing and Land were on patrol aboard the FWC vessel NW Fincat in the Gulf of Mexico. They heard the U.S. Coast Guard responding to a commercial fishing vessel in distress on VHF radio. The vessel was claiming to be under attack approximately 20 miles south of Perdido. The reporting party stated that the captain had been stabbed multiple times. A U.S. Coast Guard vessel and the Fincat arrived on scene at the same time. The captain of the commercial fishing vessel had severe wounds and was transferred to the Coast Guard vessel and transported back to shore where he was life flighted to a hospital. Officer Land boarded the vessel and determined that one of the crew members had attacked the captain with a knife and pellet gun. The crew member was arrested, and the other crew member made way for Pensacola Pass. Officers Long, Clark, and Hicks arrived on scene to assist. The fishing vessel was escorted back to shore by FWC Officers and Coast Guard. The vessel was secured at a marina in Pensacola and handed over to the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS). The assaulting crew member was booked into jail by the U.S. Marshalls.
Lieutenant Marlow and Officers Nelson and Kossey were on patrol in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 15 miles south of Gulf County aboard the offshore patrol vessel Intrepid. They conducted a resource inspection on a recreational vessel and located undersize and out of season triggerfish. The appropriate citations were issued.
Lieutenant Marlow and Officers Nelson and Kossey were on patrol in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 30 miles south of Gulf County near the Madison and Swanson Marine Protected Area. They stopped a commercial bandit rig vessel and conducted a resource inspection. Upon arriving at the stern of the vessel, both occupants began throwing fish fillets and parts overboard. They continued to throw items overboard even after the officers told them to stop. The officers boarded the vessel and located pieces of red snapper fillets and red snapper on the hooks. Citations were issued accordingly.
Lieutenant Marlow and Officers Nelson and Kossey were on patrol in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 8.5 miles south of St. Vincent Island in Franklin County. They stopped a commercial shrimping vessel to conduct an inspection of their nets for Turtle Excluder Device (TED). During the inspection the officers found five violations and the appropriate citations were issued.
SEARCH AND RESCUE
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officers Hahr, McVaney and K-9 Officer Hutchinson responded to the Blackwater State Forrest to aid in the search of a missing adult female and three children. The officers worked throughout the night along-side the Sheriff’s Office and Okaloosa County Department of Corrections K-9 teams to search the surrounding areas. The following afternoon a helicopter was brought to assist with the search and was able to locate the female and three children in good condition on a sandbar along the Blackwater River.
Officer Hahr and Officer Specialists Cushing, Land, and Corbin, along with Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Coast Guard, responded to a call of a missing diver approximately 10.5 miles Southeast of the Destin Pass in the Gulf of Mexico. The diver was described as a 60-year-old white male wearing a black swimsuit and a yellow air tank. When the diver did not resurface, the occupants of his vessel became concerned and called for assistance. Search patterns were being conducted when Officer Hahr located the missing diver on the surface, approximately 7.5 miles northeast of his last known location. The diver was exhausted but in good condition.
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