FWC Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report January 13, 2017 through January 19, 2017

(Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.) FWC Division of Law Enforcement    Weekly Report January 13, 2017 through January 19, 2017 This report represents some events the FWC handled over the past two weeks; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement. Patrol, Protect, Preserve NORTHWEST REGION CASES BAY COUNTY Officers Wicker and N. Basford were on water patrol in East Bay when they heard shooting coming from the Cooks Bayou area. They saw several vessels in the area chasing ducks and shooting while underway. The officers stopped one of the vessels which had two hunters on board. The hunters had three redhead ducks in their possession. Both were issued citations for hunting waterfowl from a moving vessel. Officers Walker and Leonard were on resource patrol when they saw a vehicle parked at the intersection of Crews Lake Road and Environmental Road on the western boundary line of Pine Log State Forest. They waited in the area for the owner to return to the vehicle. Approximately 20 minutes later, a subject walked out of the woods and returned to the vehicle. The subject stated that two of his hunting dogs had gotten loose and that he was looking for them. One of the officers backtracked from where the subject exited the woods and found a loaded .270 caliber rifle 100 yards south of Environmental Road. They also found a tree stand and trail camera within 50 feet of whole corn. The subject admitted to baiting the area and that the gun, tree stand and trail camera were his. The subject was cited accordingly. Lieutenant Allen and Officers Gore and N. Basford were conducting quality control inspections on seafood houses. At one seafood house, officers saw containers of shucked oysters with no expiration dates and some with expired dates. The officers also located untagged bags of oysters. The seafood house owner received a written warning for untagged bags of oysters and three misdemeanor citations for operating an uncertified shellfish plant, terminal sale date must appear and for selling shellfish after terminal sale date had expired. OKALOOSA COUNTY Officer Corbin was on land patrol along the Destin Harbor when he saw a pontoon aground on the shoreline. The last known registered owner was determined based on the vessel’s registration numbers. He made contact with the registered owner who stated he sold the pontoon and provided a signed bill of sale. The new owner failed to transfer the vessel’s title in his name, which is required within 30 days of purchase. The new owner was issued a notice to appear citation. Officers Bartlett and Rockwell received a call from a complainant about three subjects trespassing on private property along the Yellow River. The officers went to the Oak Grove Boat Ramp to wait for the complainant. While waiting, they saw a man in a boat coming to the boat ramp. Officer Rockwell made contact with him and determined that he was coming from his camp upriver. He conducted a resource inspection and found the man in possession of a .22 caliber rifle, a gray squirrel and a turkey breast. During Officer Rockwell’s search, the man told Officer Bartlett that he had a domestic violence injunction against him and was not allowed to possess a firearm. The subject stated that he was hunting with his sons on an island. The officers accompanied the man back to his camp where the man’s sons were hunting. Neither son had a hunting license and were issued citations for hunting without a license. The man was arrested for possession of a firearm while under a domestic violence injunction and booked at the Okaloosa County Jail. The officers determined that the man’s hunting license had been suspended. Officer Arnette was watching a field where he had seen possible night-hunting activity, when a truck pulled into the field and the occupants shined the area with a spotlight. When Officer Arnette activated his blue lights, the driver immediately left the field but pulled into a nearby yard. A woman was driving while her husband was riding in the passenger seat. A rifle was hidden behind the seat, but cartridges from the rifle were laying on top of the fresh groceries the subjects had just purchased. Both subjects were charged with night hunting. WALTON COUNTY Officer Brooks located a tree stand on private property where no hunting was allowed. When he later checked the area, the stand had been removed. He made contact with two subjects on adjacent private property and recognized the tree stand in their possession. One of the subjects admitted to placing and retrieving the stand from where Officer Brooks had seen it. The subjects were issued trespass warnings at the request of the land manager. COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING OKALOOSA COUNTY Lieutenant Clark and FWC Bear Biologist Jordan Green conducted an outreach event at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. Mr. Green presented a PowerPoint presentation as well as a static display for the staff, volunteers, campers and members of the surrounding communities. The main focus of the outreach event was to educate the community on how to reduce human - bear encounters. Approximately 35 people attended.

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