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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report
Patrol, Protect, Preserve
January 4, 2019 through January 17, 2019
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.
NORTHWEST REGION
CASES
CALHOUN COUNTY
Officer Baber was off duty when he saw a truck broken down on the side of the
road. He stopped to see if he could render aid to the driver. As he walked up to the truck, Officer Baber saw a dead alligator in the truck’s dog box. Officer Burkhead arrived to assist. The truck owner admitted to shooting the alligator earlier that morning with a .22 caliber rifle. He was cited for illegal possession of American alligator.
Officer Baber received a complaint from a landowner who heard two shots on his property earlier that morning. When the landowner went to the area of the shots, he found a fresh corn pile on his property near the adjacent property line. Officer Baber responded and located a tree stand near the corn. He followed a well-worn trail to a nearby residence. He interviewed a suspect who admitted to shooting at a deer earlier that morning on the complainant’s property. He was cited for trespass at the landowner’s request.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Cushing was on patrol in the Perdido Wildlife Management Area. He entered a gated area and smelled a strong odor of marijuana. Officer Cushing located a vehicle nearby and contacted two subjects who admitted to smoking marijuana and later discovered more marijuana in a plastic bag. Officer Cushing issued a citation for possession of marijuana less than 20 grams.
Officer Cushing was on patrol in the Perdido Wildlife Management Area. He saw an unoccupied truck parked in an obscure place after dark. He saw hunting equipment in the front seat and a few kernels of corn in the bed of the truck. Officer Cushing waited for the operator to return to the vehicle. He contacted the owner walking down the road toward the truck. The individual denied hunting but admitted to placing corn in the management area. He took Officer Cushing back to the baited site and to a location where he hid the bag of corn. He admitted to baiting the area multiple times over the past weeks anticipating hunting deer there. The appropriate citation was issued.
JACKSON COUNTY
Officer Forehand checked a subject that he knew to be a convicted felon hunting with a 12-gauge shotgun. The suspect had a friend who was also a convicted felon hunting at another location. Officers Little and Scott responded to assist. The officers located the second suspect who was also hunting with a 12-gauge shotgun. A record check of both suspects confirmed that they were both convicted felons. Both were cited for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
FWC dispatch received a complaint from a landowner who stated someone was night hunting along the roadway near his property. Officers Forehand, Baber and Burkhead responded to the scene. Once on scene, Officer Forehand located two freshly killed doe deer in the ditch along the roadway. The officers went to the residence associated with the suspect vehicle. They conducted an interview with one suspect who admitted that he and a second suspect had been night hunting and killed the two deer. He stated that he dropped off the second suspect after they shot the deer so that he could drag the deer back to the roadway. At that time, the landowner confronted the suspect in the truck and he left the area and left the second suspect on the property. The officers met with him, conducted an interview, and brought him back to the scene. This suspect led the officers onto the property where he had hidden the gun. Both suspects were cited for two counts of taking deer at night with gun and light, two counts of road hunting and trespass.
WAKULLA COUNTY
Officers Hughes, Korade and Schulz were using the deer decoy in the Apalachicola Wildlife Management Area in response to complaints of illegal deer being shot. The officers set up the decoy deer on Forest Road 352 and had a hunting crew come by while pursuing a deer with dogs. No attempts were made to shoot the decoy. A short while later, one of the vehicles that passed earlier returned, stopped and the driver exited the vehicle and fired two shots at the decoy deer (approximately a five inch spike buck). The officers approached the subject safely, disarmed him and cited him for taking an antlered deer that did not have at least one antler with two or more points.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officers Wilkenson and Lugg were contacted about two subjects catching and keeping 10 undersized and over the bag limit of red drum. Upon the officers’ arrival, the subjects had left the dock. A witness provided the officers with the description of the vehicle the individuals left in. Another witness provided a townhouse in Navarre where he believed the individuals’ families were staying. The officers located the described vehicle and contacted the renters. They admitted that they were fishing earlier and had returned the red drum back into the water. When the officers headed back to their vehicles, they both detected a strong odor of fish emanating from a dumpster located just 125 feet away. Upon inspection, the officers located 38 pieces of cut up gutted redfish, 11 of which were tail sections. The officers went back to the residence to interview the individuals about the red drum found in the dumpster. Both individuals admitted they caught the red drum, cut them in pieces and disposed of them in the dumpster. Charges were filed for a major resource violation, over the bag limit, and undersized red drum.
Officers H. Rockwell and P. Rockwell were working a night hunting detail when they heard five rifle shots near their location. The officers conducted a vehicle stop on a truck that was leaving the area. They saw fresh deer blood in the bed of the truck and on the tailgate. The driver stated the deer blood was from two deer that he just dropped off at a deer processor. An interview was conducted with all three occupants. The passengers’ statements conflicted with the driver’s. Officers Maltais and P. Rockwell located two freshly killed doe deer in a cotton field just down the road from where the traffic stop occurred. K-9 Officer Hutchinson, along with Officer Hahr and Officer Schmitt, deployed K-9 Zara and located a blood trail/kill site of the two deer and five 25-06 shell casings. Lieutenant Molnar and Officer H. Rockwell went to the subject’s house and interviewed the driver’s son. A full confession was obtained from the driver’s son and the 25-06 rifle was in the trunk of a car on the suspect’s property. The suspect shot five times out the passenger side window killing two does. The vehicle was then driven to the suspect’s house where the rifle was placed in the trunk of the car. The subject was attempting to retrieve the illegally killed deer when he saw the officers in the area. He removed the deer from the bed of the truck and started to drive away when the officers conducted the traffic stop. The suspect was cited for night hunting and two counts of possession of doe deer.
Officer Specialist Bartlett and Officer Schmitt were on vessel patrol conducting resource inspections of duck hunters in the Santa Rosa Sound in the Fort Walton Beach area. The officers heard a gunshot 21 minutes after legal shooting hours for ducks. The officers located the subjects and conducted surveillance. The subjects were still actively hunting over their duck decoys. The officers conducted a vessel stop to address the after-hours shooting. One of the two subjects admitted shooting and was issued a notice to appear citation.
Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting boating safety/resource inspections on duck hunters returning to Misty Water Boat Ramp in Mary Esther. The officer saw a boat returning with no navigational lights displayed on the vessel. The operator was wearing camouflage, had duck hunting equipment (decoys), and two dogs on board the vessel. He stated he was training one of the dogs to retrieve ducks. He also stated he was attempting to take ducks but was unsuccessful. During the inspection of the 12-gauge shotgun, the officer saw the firearm was not plugged. A notice to appear citation was issued.
Officer Corbin was on land patrol conducting resource protection at Liza Jackson Park. He saw a vehicle parked during closed hours with two individuals sleeping inside the vehicle. The officer ran the vehicle registration. The registered owner had an active FWC warrant for a derelict vessel violation. The Fort Walton Beach Police Department was contacted to address the violation for parking during closed hours. The owner of the vehicle was arrested and transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed.
Officer Hahr was on land patrol conducting resource protection in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area off Rock Hill Road. He saw a truck and trailer parked at the intersection of Forest Road. It appeared that a vehicle had been off-loaded and driven into the management area. Officer Hahr followed the tire sign and saw a white truck parked but the tire sign continued down an unnamed road. A short distance later, he saw a parked Jeep. Officer Hahr heard two men talking about shooting at two deer and tracking to see if they killed them. One of the men was carrying a crossbow and the other was carrying a semi-automatic shotgun. After identifying the two men through their hunting licenses, Officer Hahr recognized the name of one of the individuals in possession of the shotgun as a convicted felon. FWC Tallahassee Regional Communication Center confirmed that the individual was a convicted felon. He was arrested and transported to the Okaloosa County Jail where the intake process was completed.
Officer Specialist Pifer and Officer Matechik were at a wholesale dealer location in Destin to conduct a commercial inspection of a federally licensed vessel. The crew were offloading gulf reef fish: red snapper, vermilion snapper and amberjack. During the inspection of the required licenses, Officer Pifer noticed the operator’s commercial saltwater products license did not have the required restricted species endorsement to harvest gulf reef fish. The fish were seized and sold to the highest bidder per Florida Statutes. The operator was issued a notice to appear citation.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
K-9 Officer Hutchinson and Officer Schmitt were on land patrol conducting resource protection in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area. The officers saw a truck being operated with the driver and passenger not wearing their seat belts. The truck’s right passenger side taillight was inoperative. During the vehicle stop, the officers saw two 12-gauge shotguns in the truck, one next to the driver and the other next to the passenger. FWC Tallahassee Regional Communication Center confirmed that the passenger was a convicted felon. The passenger was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The passenger was transported to the Santa Rosa County Jail where the intake process was completed. K-9 Officer Hutchinson recognized the driver as the individual he was currently investigating for violating the antlerless deer possession limit. After his Miranda Rights were read, the driver admitted to killing two does and led the officers to the location of the deer carcasses. K-9 Officer Hutchinson later secured an arrest warrant.
Officer Ramos received multiple complaints regarding Jeeps and four-wheel-drive vehicles off-roading in Blackwater River State Forest. The complainants alleged that the vehicles were intentionally damaging state lands, driving carelessly and disrupting legal hunting. Over the course of a couple hours, Officer Ramos tracked and located three vehicles in two separate locations and issued the appropriate citations and warnings for the violations.
K-9 Officer Hutchinson along with K-9 Zara and Officer Schmitt were patrolling the Blackwater State Forest when they saw a vehicle parked on a closed forest road. Officer Hutchinson recognized the vehicle as belonging to a suspect of an illegal bait site in the Blackwater State Forest. He deployed K-9 Zara who tracked the suspect to his hunting blind. While interviewing the subject, Officer Schmitt discovered the subject was hunting without a valid hunting license, deer permit and management area permit. The subject also admitted to placing bait in the management area and hunting over it. The subject was issued the appropriate citations for the hunting violations.
Officer Hutchinson received a call from a property owner who informed him that he saw a truck with a subject standing in the bed of it shoot into his property. Officer Hutchinson obtained a description of the vehicle from the property owner. He recognized the vehicle description as belonging to several subjects that he contacted earlier while enroute to the complaint. K-9 Zara was deployed and conducted an area search for more evidence. During the search, they located several trees that were struck by bullets along with other evidence. After collecting all the evidence, Officer Hutchinson drove to the suspect’s residence and interviewed them. All three subjects admitted to shooting at deer from the right of way and onto the private property. The following day, the property owner located a dead deer with buckshot in it on his property. The driver was cited for road hunting. The passenger who had recently gotten off probation for night hunting was charged for using an illegal method to take deer, discharging a firearm from a right of way and a felony charge for trespass by projectile.
Officer Hutchinson and K-9 Zara responded to a complaint of road hunting and trespassing. Upon arrival, Officer Hutchinson saw fresh boot tracks leading into the private property. He deployed K-9 Zara to conduct a search of the area. During the search, K-9 Zara located where the suspect shot into the private property, several pools of fresh blood and a wounded deer. Officer Hutchinson interviewed the suspect who admitted to shooting an antlerless deer from the right of way. Warrants were issued for the violation.
Officer Ramos was in south Santa Rosa County checking local landings when he saw two men fishing. He conducted a fisheries inspection of the two men and found them in possession of several mullet and two red drum. One of the red drum measured 30 inches, three inches over size. One citation was issued to the individual who caught the fish for possession of oversize red drum.
WALTON COUNTY
Officer Jarvis responded to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park regarding a traffic crash involving a fifth-wheel recreational vehicle (RV) trailer. While the RV was in tow, the driver turned too close and the trailer struck the Park’s entrance fence line damaging the slide-out and the door of the trailer. The trailer sustained approximately $4,000 in damage. The state park property and fence sustained about $650 in damage. A traffic report was completed, and the driver was issued a warning for careless driving.
COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING
HOLMES COUNTY
Officer Yates and Reserve Officer Kinney instructed the law portion of a subject safety class in Bonifay. Approximately 35 people were in attendance and the information was well received.
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