FWC
Division of Law Enforcement
Weekly Report
April 4, 2014 - April 10, 2014
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
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers received information that a subject in the Fort Pickens area was harvesting and in possession of over the daily bag limit of pompano. The officers located and made contact with the subject in one of the parking areas of Fort Pickens. The subject said he had been fishing and a fisheries inspection revealed 20 pompano. The daily bag limit for pompano is six per person. A citation was issued for the violation and the pompano were seized as evidence.
GADSDEN COUNTY
Officers Mims and Johnson were on water patrol on Lake Talquin. While conducting a boating safety inspection, Officer Mims asked some fishermen if they had caught any fish. They replied that there were none on board. After further investigation, a short striped bass was found in the live well and a citation was issued.
HOLMES COUNTY
Officers Jackson, Walker, White, Letcher, Yates and Lieutenant Walsingham concluded an investigation of deer being illegally taken in Illinois and transported to Florida. After numerous interviews, evidence collection, completion of reports, and working in conjunction with Illinois Department of Natural Resources, it was determined that four buck deer had been illegally taken in Illinois and brought back to Florida. The information and evidence was forwarded to Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Officer Johnson. After he completed his investigation,
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officers received information from a landowner that several persons in a loud truck stopped near their property and killed a doe deer late at night. The landowner confronted the suspects and they immediately left the area. Officer Johnson and Lieutenant Hahr contacted three landowners in the area the next day. They determined the location where the deer was killed, which was well within the private property adjacent to the roadway. They collected blood samples from the private property and located two freshly fired shell casings along the pavement from a .45 automatic colt pistol. Examination of the deer carcass indicated it was shot several times with buckshot and what possibly could have been a pistol round. Three 00 buckshot pellets were recovered with a metal detector. After talking to people in the area, they received information that led them to three possible suspects and a description of the suspect vehicle. Using various information sources, they identified the three suspects and located one of their residences in the Milton area. They also observed photos of the suspects posing with an eight point buck about a week earlier. The next day, Lieutenant Hahr and Officer Johnson, with assistance from Officer Murphy, Reserve Officer Wise, and Lieutenant Lambert, determined three locations to begin searching for the three suspects. Lieutenant Hahr located the suspect truck parked at an apartment complex in Milton and observed all three suspects in the parking lot working on another vehicle. He contacted the other officers and waited for their arrival. Once they were on scene, the officers quickly separated the suspects before interviewing them. All three suspects cooperated and admitted to killing the doe the night before, and additionally, admitted to killing the eight point buck the weekend before at night. They also admitted to several instances of night hunting in the last several weeks. The officers located a .45 pistol, a 20 gauge shotgun, and a .22 rifle that had been used in taking the deer, along with a cooler containing deer meat from the buck. The meat had spoiled due to a lack of ice. The officers identified one other possible suspect, a young woman who drove the truck the night they killed the buck. Officers Johnson and Wise located her later that evening and interviewed her. She also admitted her involvement in the case. The antlers from the buck that was killed were located hidden on the property belonging to the mother of one of the suspects. A total of 17 charges were filed against the four subjects for seven different violations including taking deer at night with a gun and light, road hunting, possession of an illegally taken deer, discharging a firearm from a public roadway, trespass, trespass by projectile, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Officer Kinney concluded a trespass investigation with assistance from Officer Jackson, Investigators Thomas and King, and Lieutenants Walsingham and Bartlett. Information was received that two big bucks had been illegally taken while trespassing and their photos being posted on Facebook. Five defendants were charged with 12 violations after an extensive investigation that involved digital evidence collection, physical evidence collection, and numerous interviews (including one in Alabama with the assistance of Lieutenant Lee of Alabama Game and Fish). It was determined that the five subjects had illegally entered private property and taken three deer over the course of two days.
http://live.oysterradio.com/
Missing/Runaway Juvenile: Antonio Hadley
Visitors have grown accustomed to seeing what's been referred to as the Parker House. This Mexico Beach landmark was built by founder Charlie Parker. The City of Mexico Beach purchased the property a few years back to use as the new city hall. Unfortunately, it caught fire before it could be occupied. This past week the burned house was demolished. The Parker family is still a big part of Mexico Beach, and we thank them for their years of dedication to our community.
Last month, we gave away a basket of cheer that included a Mexico Beach T-shirt, Mexico Beach coffee mugs, and bag of coffee. The lucky winner was Lisa Robertson from Brandon, MS. We want to thank all our readers for putting their names in the hat. Congratulations, Lisa!
April
Cathy & Mike
Mexico Beach Photography Contest
Ling Ding Fishing Tournament
Beach Blast Triathlon & Duathlon - Spring Race 
Florida’s Forgotten Coast Plein Air Invitational
