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FWC
Division of Law Enforcement
Weekly Report
April 10, 2015 thru April 16, 2015
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
BAY COUNTY
Officer Gore began investigation on illegal oyster sales in Bay County that led him to a commercial oysterman that was illegally selling the oysters he harvested. A controlled buy was established and Lieutenant Bartlett and Officers Jones, Wicker, Lipford and Hellett assisted. In all, four charges were made for licensing and quality control violations and 19 bags of oysters were seized.
Officer T. Basford investigated a boat fire at a local marina that injured one man who was air lifted to a burn center. The fire destroyed/damaged two vessels. Initial investigation indicates the improper ventilation of gasoline fumes before starting the vessel’s engines.
Officer Wicker worked a Personal Watercraft (PWC) accident in which one PWC ran into the back of another PWC causing one rider to be sent to the hospital with back injuries. Charges were filed against one of the operators.
Officers T. and N. Basford worked a boating accident which involved a Navy hovercraft that ran over a kayaker. The kayaker was fishing in the St. Andrews Pass when the hovercraft, which was returning from offshore, struck the kayak in the fog. The impact resulted in head and leg injuries to the kayaker.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officers Hoomes and Pettey were watching fishermen in a popular redfish spot when they observed a man catch a large fish. When the man landed it, he held it up by the gills and they could see that it was a large redfish. The fisherman put it in a cooler. When the officers checked them, they observed 5 redfish in the cooler. All of them were well over the maximum size limit. Two of the men admitted to catching the fish and were charged with taking oversized redfish and the bag limit violation.
Lieutenants Hahr and Lambert were patrolling in the Perdido River WMA when they overheard three people talking about hiding their “bad stuff.” After a short while, they observed one of the subjects smoking marijuana and give the pipe to the other to hide again. A short time later, they all gathered up and began to smoke something else. When they approached the group, the officers observed a meth pipe in their possession. Their conversation and subsequent admissions indicated that they were all smoking meth as the officer approached. Several items of paraphernalia were also located, as well as bags containing methamphetamine, spice, cannabis, Xanex, and one unidentified pill. They were all charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis, and possession of drug paraphernalia. One subject was also charged with another count of possession of controlled substances for the pills.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officers Barnard and Manning were patrolling around the Garcon Point Bridge and observed one boat fishing there. Upon checking their catch, they found three oversized redfish. One man admitted to measuring all of the fish and was charged with harvesting oversized redfish.
Officers Manning and Livesay were about to go on water patrol at the Santa Rosa Yacht club, when a citizen flagged them down and reported that a sail boat was flipped over not far from the yacht club. At this time there was a severe thunder storm in the area with high winds. Officer Livesay and Manning responded to the overturned sail boat and found three subjects struggling to swim. Officer Manning and Livesay were able to safely pull the individuals out of the water.
Officers Jones and Land were patrolling on the Eglin Reservation and Wildlife Management Area. They were targeting early entry and hunting in closed areas during the current spring gobbler turkey season. While working along the boundary of a unit listed as closed, the officers observed two trucks driving out of the closed area. The two hunters were detained and issued notices to appear in county court. Eglin Range Patrol Officers responded and suspended the hunter's Eglin permits.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officers Pifer and Corbin responded to a complaint of individuals spearfishing gag grouper at a local dive spot. As the Officers approached the vessel, they observed two divers in the water matching the description given by the complainant with spear guns. A fisheries inspection was conducted but no violations were found. After the inspection, the Officers located, recovered and documented two gag grouper floating in close proximity to the vessel. The divers were interviewed about the Gags and denied harvesting the fish. The Officers informed the divers that an investigation was going to be conducted and the State Attorney’s Office would be contacted. A few days later, one of the divers contacted Officer Corbin and provided him with a sworn written statement admitting to harvesting both gag grouper. He also provided Officer Corbin a cell phone photograph of himself with the illegal fish. The individual was cited for harvesting gag grouper during the closed season.
Officer Pifer was on land patrol near a local boat ramp when he noticed that the vehicle in front of him had a very faded registration decal. A check of the tag revealed that the vehicle registration expired over a year ago. Officer Pifer conducted a traffic stop and observed that the decal was displaying an expiration year of 2015; however, dispatch advised it expired in 2014. Officer Pifer asked to see the vehicle registration due to the discrepancy. The driver then told Officer Pifer that he didn’t want to lie to him and that he had altered the decal with a felt tip pen. It was also determined that the driver had a previous citation for expired registration more than 6 months and a suspended driver license. The driver was arrested and booked into the Okaloosa County Jail for the violations.
Lieutenant Suggs, Investigators Armstrong, Schafer, Officers Maltais and Molnar along with USCG Destin and USCG MSD Panama City participated in a detail focusing on liveries and parasail operators in south Okaloosa County. An educational approach was taken informing parasail operators of the new state laws. In total 17 liveries were inspected and 28 warnings were issued regarding livery and parasail operations.
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