FWC Law Enforcement Report

April 13, 2014

Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekend ending April 10:

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.

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.  T

hey 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.

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.

Comments

6 Responses to “FWC Law Enforcement Report”

  1. IMHO on April 13th, 2014 11:04 pm

    No Trespassing signs mean nothing anymore. I’ve got pics of poachers in a black pickup with one yahoo hanging out the sunroof with his rifle…..better watch out boys, theres cameras in them there woods…..

  2. well on April 13th, 2014 7:36 pm

    Thanks to the citizens who told FWC what was going on and what vehicle to look for.

  3. Kay Campbell on April 13th, 2014 11:41 am

    Glad to se this is working….we are working with the FWC to stop poachers on our property also. It’s not worth it folks…..

  4. Bob's Brother on April 13th, 2014 9:20 am

    Good work, gentlemen. These people are the ones who give sportsmen a bad
    name. Let’s hope the judge punishes these people to the fullest extent of the law.

  5. hilton on April 13th, 2014 9:05 am

    Thank you Officers for a job well-done. People that hunt illegally and at night really make me angry. As a matter of fact, these people that would shoot an animal that is totally defenseless at night are cruel cowards. Real hunters give game a sporting chance and low down skunks like these thugs ruin everyones hunting experience.

  6. 429SCJ on April 13th, 2014 7:34 am

    Sounds like FWC is on the case and misses very little.

    Those three idiots should have consulted an attorney before opening their big mouths. It would stand to reason that if they had been that smart, they would not have been out poaching game in the first place.