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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report
Patrol, Protect, Preserve
November 16, 2018 through November 29, 2018
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 Allgood was patrolling Ft. Pickens conducting resource inspections when he saw two subjects carrying a cooler off the beach towards their vehicle. He contacted the subjects and saw a large red drum located in the cooler with the head and tail cut off. The fish appeared to be grossly oversized and was not landed in whole condition. Officer Allgood issued the subject a resource citation for failure to land a red drum in whole condition.
Officers participated in a targeted enforcement action organized by Officer Allgood working illegal bait sites within Escambia Wildlife Management Area. Officers Allgood and Hutchison with K-9 Zara located two locations where bait was placed within the management area. Both baited areas were located on the ground near tree stands. After monitoring the baited sites, Officers Allgood and Pettey located a subject hunting over one of the baited sites. The subject admitted to placing bait in the management area to attract hogs. Later that day, Officer Allgood located two subjects hunting at the second bait site. One of the subjects admitted to placing bait on the management area. Resource citations were issued to both parties for placing bait on a management area to attract deer or hogs. Several warnings were issued to both subjects as well.
Officer Clark was on a social media website that was known for local fishing posts. He saw a post that had an individual holding up an undersized bull shark. Officer Clark spoke with the individual and the subject stated that he did catch the shark but gave it away. Officer Clark educated the suspect on the laws of undersized sharks and the definition of harvest. Charges were filed for harvesting a shark with a fork length of less than 54 inches.
Lieutenant Lambert was working duck hunting from a concealed location at Salter’s Lake within the Escambia River. He saw a subject arrive at the boat ramp and launch a small boat at sunset. The subject shot at ducks until 25 minutes after sunset. Legal hunting hours for duck hunting ends at sunset. Appropriate citations were issued for the violation.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Officers Sauls and McLeod were on patrol in when they received a complaint about subjects taking undersized spotted sea trout on the Eastpoint Fishing Pier. They arrived at the pier and contacted two subjects and conducted a resource inspection. The inspection revealed the subjects were in possession of undersized and over the bag limit of trout. Both subjects were cited, and 20 undersized trout were seized.
Officer Travis was on patrol when he received a complaint about subjects taking undersized spotted sea trout from the Eastpoint Fishing Pier. He arrived on scene and watched multiple subjects actively fishing. He identified one group that was transporting undersized trout to their vehicle. Officer Travis contacted the subjects and conducted a resource inspection. The subjects were in possession of undersized trout. Officer Travis cited the subjects and seized the undersized fish.
GULF COUNTY
Officers Gerber and McMillion were on patrol when they saw an individual displaying a light from the driver’s side window of a vehicle. They followed the vehicle for several miles as the driver continued to display the light. They conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and during their inspection they found a 30-30 rifle and several rounds nearby. They also found an open container of alcohol inside the vehicle. The subject was cited for the open container and issued a notice to appear citation for attempting to take deer with the use of gun and light.
Officer Webb responded to a request for assistance from the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office in a gated subdivision, where witnesses described hearing four rifle shots. Two male subjects in a truck with a bloody bed and tailgate were located and detained. Evidence included three rifles (an AR-15 with high capacity magazines and two .22 rifles), one short barreled 12-gauge shotgun, two young antlerless deer, and a bag of ammunition. Blood samples were collected. In consultation with the State Attorney, both subjects were cited for possession of doe/antlerless deer during open season, use of rimfire cartridge firearm for taking deer, and possession of centerfire semi auto rifle with magazine capacity greater than five rounds while taking deer.
HOLMES COUNTY
After receiving a complaint of a doe and spotted fawn carcass being dumped on private property, Officers Yates, Homan, Gore, and Greene collaborated to identify suspects and investigate. Two subjects were cited for taking a spotted fawn and taking deer by illegal method and use of firearm during archery season.
Officer Yates was on patrol before daylight when he saw a vehicle stopped on Highway 90. The headlights were shining the wood line and a subject was walking around looking in the ditch. Upon further investigation, it was determined that the juvenile subject had shot a hog from the roadway. He was cited accordingly.
Officer Yates and Reserve Officer Hahr completed an investigation into another spotted fawn being killed. After identifying a suspect and conducting interviews, the subject was cited for taking a spotted fawn and numerous license violations.
Officer Yates received a complaint of roadway hunting with a description of the suspect vehicle. Arriving in the area, he located the vehicle and a short time later, two subjects exited the management area dragging a short horn buck. An interview revealed that they had also shot at another deer from the roadway before killing the short horn buck. They were charged accordingly.
Officers Yates, Homan, Gore, and Tison responded to a complaint of a morning duck shoot. Arriving at the location, the officers split up and converged from all sides of the swamp and located two subjects in possession of 26 ducks. The area was baited, and the subjects did not have plugs in their guns. They were cited accordingly.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officer Maltais was on land patrol conducting license and game compliance in the Eglin Wildlife Management Area. The officer saw a parked vehicle at the Jackson North Management Unit, an area designated for early archery season. All subjects and vehicles are required to check in before heading to their tree stand for this area. Each subject who checks in receives a check station pass, which is required to be displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle. The parked vehicle did not display the check-in pass. Officer Maltais located the subject who was still seated in the tree stand. The officer quickly noticed the field surrounding the subject was illegally baited with beets. The subject was cited and issued a notice to appear citation for placing bait within a wildlife management area.
Officers Pifer and Schmitt were on vessel patrol conducting boating safety and resource inspections in the Destin Pass. The officers saw a vessel returning from the Gulf of Mexico with fishing gear displayed. The officers stopped the vessel and during the safety inspection determined the boat was coming back from a fishing trip. The resource inspection revealed two undersized gray triggerfish. The season for gray triggerfish is closed. The boat operator was cited and issued a notice to appear citation for harvesting gray triggerfish during closed season.
Officer Corbin responded to a complaint of a bear in garbage in Mary Esther. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with the complainant and located the bear in a vacant lot in a tree. Officer Corbin also saw a household garbage bag lying at the base of the tree. The homeowner was issued a non-compliance letter for failure to secure garbage can.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hahr and Lieutenant Clark were patrolling in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area when they heard two shots. Officer Hahr coursed the shots to a location in the management area. He went to that location and saw a subject exiting private property with a rifle. The subject stated that he shot two does. When they checked the deer, they discovered that he had killed three deer, two over the daily bag limit. The subject was cited for taking over the bag limit of antlerless deer. The meat from two deer was seized and donated to a charitable organization.
Officer Hahr was patrolling private property during crossbow season when he heard two rifle shots. He located the area from where the shots came and saw a subject in the process of cleaning a deer. Both deer had bullet wounds and no sign of a broadhead wound. The subject admitted to taking the deer with a rifle. Both illegally harvested deer were seized and donated to a charitable organization. The subject was cited for taking deer with a firearm during crossbow season.
Officer Ramos located an illegal bait site on Eglin Wildlife Management Area. A person planted a non-native seed as an attractant for deer and cut small oak trees down to create a shooting lane from a ladder stand. Later, the suspect also laid corn on the ground near the illegal food plot. Officer Ramos found the man actively hunting on the site and after a brief interview, the suspect admitting to cutting the trees, planting the food plot and spreading the corn. The subject was issued criminal citations for the violations. Additionally, the suspect’s access to the Eglin WMA was revoked for one year by Eglin Range Patrol security forces.
Officer Ramos saw a vehicle leaving Eglin Wildlife Management Area and conducted a traffic stop to check for licenses and permits. During the inspection, the officer learned that the suspect didn’t have a valid driver’s license. Additionally, the subject had dug up and removed several bags of expended ammunition from Eglin property. Range patrol was called, and the subject was issued a Notice of Violation for digging/disturbing ground on the WMA, a violation that all users who access the reservation are made aware of when an entry permit is granted. The subject’s access to Eglin was revoked for one year due to the violation. Officer Ramos also issued the appropriate citation to the suspect for driving with a suspended license.
Officer Cushing was driving across a bridge and saw a canoe drifting in Pensacola Bay. The canoe displayed a dive flag but there wasn’t anybody in or near the vessel which was nearly a half mile from the closest bridge. Officer Cushing proceeded to a local marina to respond by patrol vessel. Officers Ramos and Land responded to assist. Officer Ramos contacted FWC biologists who already had a boat in the water. With the help of the FWC biologist team, Officer Ramos began searching the bridge spans for a possible missing diver while Officer Land used binoculars to direct Officer Cushing to the canoe. Officer Cushing retrieved the canoe out of the water and placed it in his patrol vessel. A brief time later, Officer Ramos and the FWC biologists found three men swimming along the bridge spans heading towards a boat ramp which was about a quarter of a mile away. When the men got out of the water, two of them were borderline hypothermic from cold-water exposure. All three subjects had been spearfishing and had fish on their stringers. Officer Cushing returned the canoe to the subjects at the boat ramp. While the subjects were recovering from the cold water, a resource inspection of their speared fish was conducted. One subject was found to have speared a red drum, which is an illegal method of take. The red drum was also over the legal-size limit. The subject was issued citations for spearing a red drum and fishing without a saltwater license. All three men were issued warnings for other violations but remained grateful for the officers’ response and assistance.
Officer Ramos was on patrol in Eglin Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and discovered fresh ATV tire sign. ATV use is prohibited on the WMA. A vehicle and empty ATV trailer were located on Eglin property and Officer Ramos recorded the vehicle information. Later, he saw the ATV on a Range Road and attempted to catch up to it. The person driving the ATV eluded the officer by cutting through a closed area and doubling back on extremely narrow roads. Officer Ramos contacted Lieutenant Berryman and asked him to stand by with the suspect’s vehicle and trailer. When Lieutenant Berryman arrived at that location, the ATV had already been loaded on the trailer and the suspect was gone. Officer Ramos located the suspect’s vehicle heading south on a highway. The truck was pulling the same trailer with the ATV that fled from Officer Ramos earlier. A traffic stop was conducted, and two subjects were interviewed. The subjects were not truthful at first and denied they had been on Eglin WMA. After further questioning, the subjects admitted they had been riding in the WMA on two separate occasions. The operator of the ATV admitted he knew he was supposed to have an Eglin range permit but did not. Both persons were cited for operating an ATV on a management area along with warnings for other violations.
Officer Ramos was on patrol in Eglin Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and saw a man exit a wooded area with a compound bow and arrows during a period when all hunting was prohibited within Eglin WMA. Officer Ramos interviewed the subject and he admitted that he had been hunting deer from a ladder stand. He was issued a notice to appear for attempting to take game during the closed season.
Officer Hutchinson received a complaint from a landowner about a subject trespassing on their private property. Officer Hutchinson drove to the property and located a vehicle parked on state forest property near the private property. He deployed K9 Zara who tracked from the subject’s vehicle to the private property. While tracking, K9 Zara led Officer Hutchinson to a bag, a bucket and a shovel that were laying in the bushes. The bag and the bucket contained old bottles and other artifacts along with other tools used for digging. K9 Zara continued tracking until Officer Hutchinson heard a vehicle stop on a nearby roadway. He heard two doors shut which were the subjects attempting to get away. He contacted a sheriff’s deputy who was nearby and requested his help in locating the vehicle. A brief time later, the deputy stopped the vehicle and identified the male and female passengers as being the two whose truck was parked near the private property. After being interviewed, both subjects admitted to trespassing on the private property and digging for old bottles. They also admitted to fleeing the property when they heard the K9 team tracking towards them. Officer Hutchinson issued the subjects warnings for trespassing at the landowner’s request. The artifacts taken were given back to the landowner.
WALTON COUNTY
Officer White located a subject hunting on Point Washington Wildlife Management Area after seeing a vehicle parked along the roadway. An inspection of the area the subject was hunting revealed bait had been placed on the ground to attract deer. The subject was cited for the violation.
Officer White approached a subject fishing Choctawhatchee Bay from the shoreline. As he approached the subject, he saw a redfish on the ground near the subject. The subject had not measured the fish and it was well under the legal-size limit. The subject was cited for possession of undersized redfish.
While off duty, Lieutenant Goodwin saw subjects riding ATVs on Nokuse Plantation. Officer Tison responded to assist and contacted the subjects, who admitted to seeing posted “No Trespassing” signs prior to entering the property. Officer Tison contacted the land manager for Nokuse Plantation, who wanted charges pressed for trespass. Officer Tison charged each subject with trespass.
Officer Brooks responded to the location of an off-duty deputy after the deputy saw someone shoot from a roadway. Upon arrival, Officer Brooks saw a doe deer that the subject had shot from his vehicle in a field. The subject did not have permission to hunt the property and was charged for taking wildlife from a public road.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Officer Parrish was on patrol in the Sunny Hills area when he saw a subject in possession of a doe deer during closed season. He was cited for taking doe deer during closed season.
Officer Homan and Greene responded to a complaint on Choctawhatchee Wildlife Management Area of a subject driving on closed roads. Upon arrival, the suspect vehicle was located behind a locked gate on a closed road. While waiting, Officer Homan heard shooting and closed the distance to observe subjects shooting ducks after hours. The three subjects were cited accordingly for shooting ducks after hours and driving on a closed road in the WMA.
COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING
WASHINGTON COUNTY
South Okaloosa officers and bear management personnel teamed together to canvas and educate a community experiencing a high volume of nuisance bears. Approximately 300 duplex/units were canvassed, and 25 non-compliance letters were issued. The community was very appreciative of FWC educational efforts.
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