FWC Law Enforcement Report

July 27, 2014

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the two week period ending July 24.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Officer Manning and Officer Livesay conducted an offshore patrol in state waters focusing on the red snapper closed season. They seized several red Snapper, undersized king mackerel and greater amberjack. They wrote two resource citations, one boating safety citation and three resource warnings. .

Officer Pineda and Lieutenant Lambert were patrolling Little Sabine.  Officer Pineda observed a vessel leave a sandbar and begin driving erratically.  Concerned for the safety of the people on board and others around, the officers made a vessel stop.  After further investigation, it was determined that the operator was boating under the influence of alcohol.  The operator was cited for BUI and transported to the Escambia County Jail.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Lewis was on patrol in Blackwater River State Forest at Riley’s Bluff primitive area when, across the river, he observed a male rolling a cannabis cigarette.  The male subject smoked the cannabis cigarette and handed it to another male subject.  Officer Lewis made his presence known to the subjects and asked them to bring the cannabis cigarette and the rest of the drugs they had with them across the river.  The subjects complied.  There were seven children in and around the river.  After locating the children’s mother to care for the children, Officer Lewis issued the two male subjects misdemeanor citations for possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The following day, Officer Lewis was at the Red Rock Primitive area when, across the river, he observed a man throw a bottle into the woods and discard a cardboard box onto the ground.  Officer Lewis waited for the man and the rest of his group to cross the river and leave the area before he made contact.  When the subjects were in the vehicle, Officer Lewis approached them just as the driver of the vehicle threw two soda cans out of the window.  The cans barely missed hitting Officer Lewis. Officer Lewis issued citations to the male and female subjects for littering.

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. Information provided by FWC.

Comments

7 Responses to “FWC Law Enforcement Report”

  1. Jessica Vaughn-Clark on August 6th, 2014 10:16 pm

    I met Officer Lewis today while we were swimming in the east branch of big coldwater creek off of Mcdaniels Rd. I have no problem with FFW officers being out there and appreciate them catching litter bugs and I’m happy to have them around in the middle of nowhere for our safety. I do have to say that looking up and seeing a stranger standing right over my girlfriend and her sleeping baby was off putting. Typically, when we are hiking in that area and come upon a group of people we announce ourselves with a “hello!” so we aren’t walking in on people changing or we don’t scare anyone. I understand that he likes to bust people with pot or whatever, but we had changed into our swimsuits thinking no one was around. We heard a popping at one point and my girlfriend thought someone was up on the bluff, but I told her it was probably nothing because we didn’t hear anything else. We have no idea how long he was watching us through binoculars. I don’t drink, definitely don’t litter, and don’t smoke pot. He seemed like a nice guy, and like I said I appreciate them being close by, but it creeped us all out thinking he could have watched us change. I know that pot is illegal, but is busting someone with a doobie worth spying on three women (one who is 8 months pregnant) and two toddlers? He could have just announced himself and then gone through the legal procedures to see if one of us was hiding a joint. It is going to make me more weary now that I know anyone can sneak up on us out of the blue. I have been hiking and camping this area extensively for 17 years and the only time I have ever been snuck up on was by a park ranger or FFW.

  2. Dee on July 31st, 2014 9:56 am

    John – “I was cited for a red fish barely too long and another barely to small.”

    Let me fix it for you John, “I was cited for a red fish too long and another to small.”

    Whether its an inch or a foot, its still over the limit. If you dont want to get cited for possession of illegal fish, you shouldnt possess illegal fish. If its too small or too big, throw it back. Simple. Then you wont have to whine about getting cited.

  3. David Taylor on July 29th, 2014 1:28 pm

    I have a hard time believing Officer Lewis could see it was marijuana and not tobacco, that was being rolled, from across the river.

  4. Mr. Reality on July 27th, 2014 9:18 pm

    LOSERS LITTER!!!! DON’T BE A LOSER!!!

  5. doghunter on July 27th, 2014 9:11 pm

    Good to catch the litter bugs. So they will quit blaming all the hunters its mostly young kids! The south eastern dog hunters have been doin clean up to make the forest beautiful for everyone to enjoy.

  6. John on July 27th, 2014 5:47 pm

    I had a 28 ft walk around fishing boat about 15 yrs ago that we mostly used in the back bays to visit various spots sun, ski, knee board, etc. Very rarely did I go to the gulf to gulf to fish. Once I did and I was cited for a red fish barely too long and another barely to small. I had to go to court. It was an honest mistake and they wanted to throw the book at you. Max fine, probation, community service. Just crazy. Thank goodness the judge could understand, I did not mean to do this.

    A couple of years later they moved the no wake zone from the Baars Bridge way past Oyster Bar and past the public park on intercoastal canal. I did not know the no wake zone had been moved and received a ticket for that. After looking around the print on the sign that said end of no wake zone was so small you would need a magnifying glass to read the words.

    At that point I decided the FWC, etc. were having so much fun penalizing people who had accidentally made mistakes that boating was no longer fun for me and my family and I sold my boat, so there was one less family they could enjoy antagonizing.

  7. Richard on July 27th, 2014 9:23 am

    Take your trash home with you! Keep Florida clean and beautiful for our kids and grand kids .I always bring more trash back then I take with me.Now my kid dont even as me why i pick other peoples trash when we are out at fort pickens,fishing the bay or rivers,walking blackwater park,they just help.Also we need to push for deposits on bottles,cans and MOST of all cigarette butts.If this was done you wouldn’t see a single butt on the gound anywhere!!!