FWC
Division of Law Enforcement
Weekly Report
December 13-19, 2013
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
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officer Rockwell received a complaint of individuals rallying ducks. The next morning, he located several duck hunters near the area of the complaint. While watching the hunters for a couple of hours, he observed one hunter continuously rally ducks with his boat and herd them towards another group of three hunters. After documenting the violation, he made contact with the hunters and issued the one man a notice to appear for a violation of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act.
Officer Kirchinger received information from Officer Rockwell, who was off duty, that he had observed three ATVs on Blackwater Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Officer Kirchinger located the ATV riders and cited them for operating an ATV on a WMA.
BAY COUNTY
Officer Hellett received a complaint of a doe deer that had been shot and was laying in the complainant’s back yard. He made contact with the complainant and retrieved the doe deer. There was a gunshot wound in the neck of the deer. Officer Hellett’s investigation revealed that a neighbor of the complainant was the one who shot the deer. Officer Hellett made contact with the neighbor a couple of days later and he confessed to shooting the deer and provided a written statement. Charges of taking a doe deer by illegal method will be direct filed with the State Attorney’s Office.
JACKSON COUNTY
K-9 Officer Guy responded to a boating accident where a duck hunter capsized his small vessel and was believed to be trapped underneath in the air pocket created by the shape of the vessel. The air temperature was 37 degrees and the subject had been in the water for approximately one hour. Numerous other agency officials were already on scene but could not access the victim without a vessel. Officer Guy launched his vessel and recovered the hunter, who was suffering from hypothermia. The victim was turned over to waiting EMS personnel and transported to the local hospital where he was treated for moderate to severe hypothermia.
Officer Kinney received information from Officer Jackson that a subject was cleaning a doe deer at his house. Officer Kinney responded and encountered an individual cleaning a doe deer. The subject was cited for taking a doe deer during closed season. The deer was seized as evidence.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Officer Kinney and Lieutenant Walsingham were on patrol when they heard gunshots from what appeared to be an after‑hours duck hunt. They located the area and encountered three individuals. The subjects were found to be in violation and were cited for taking ducks after legal shooting hours. Two of the individuals were cited for willful and wanton waste of wildlife after several birds were found left on the pond and one was cited for taking over the daily bag limit of wood ducks. Ten wood ducks were seized as evidence.
Officer Kinney and Lieutenant Walsingham located five individuals participating in an early morning duck hunt. Their investigation determined the pond was baited. Citations for taking migratory birds over bait and numerous license violations were issued to the subjects.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Officer’s Anderson and Gore set up surveillance on two subjects duck hunting in Apalachicola Bay. When the hunters quit hunting, the Officers conducted a resource stop to check for bag limit compliance with the ducks that had been shot. When identifying themselves to the hunters, the operator of the boat put the boat in reverse and started backing away from the Officers. When doing this, both Officers observed the hunters throwing ducks overboard. Once getting the vessel stopped, they found the hunters to be in possession of over the bag limit of ducks. The hunters were cited for the bag limit violation and inference with a FWC Officer.
LEON COUNTY
Officer’s Anderson and Louque were working complaints on Lake Iamonia in regards to individuals shooting ducks on the lake after legal shooting hours. The officers were able to identify an individual shooting after hours and committing numerous other violations. The subject was cited for shooting after legal shooting hours and given warnings for license violations.
COPS (Community Oriented Policing)
Officers Kirchinger and Molnar spoke to approximately 200 students at Crestview High School about the various duties of an FWC officer. Hunting and boating safety literature was provided to the students.
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