FWC Law Enforcement Report

August 2, 2014

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the week ending July 31.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Hutchinson was patrolling the Escambia River when he observed a boat beached on a sandbar with three people sitting in it.  As he approached them, he observed one of the men make a quick movement as though he was hiding something.  After receiving consent to search, Officer Hutchinson located a drug pipe in a tackle box.  One of the men stated that he used to smoke meth and he kept the pipe in case he ever wanted to again.  Officer Hutchinson then located a bag of cannabis which the other man stated that he brought.  He issued notices to appear to the two men for possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis.

Officers responded to a call regarding a drifting PWC near the Garcon Point Bridge. The US Coast Guard (USCG) and local fire and rescue personnel also responded.  The owners of the PWC reported that three girls left on the PWC and were missing.  After a quick search, the girls were located between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola by Midway Fire and Rescue as the strong current had swept them away from land and towards the Three Mile Bridge.  The girls hit a wave in the rough bay and fell off of the PWC.  The strong winds kept them from reaching the PWC, but they were wearing PFDs and stayed together for several hours until they were rescued.

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

One Response to “FWC Law Enforcement Report”

  1. perdido fisherman on August 2nd, 2014 3:55 am

    Thank goodness they were smart enough to wear thier life jackets, as a retired Coastie I have seen to many people die because they wouldn’t wear a life jacket. Many a person would say ” I keep it close by in case i need it, but i don’t like wearing it”. Things can turn ugly in the blink of an eye,people get knocked out and drown or the boat hits a wave and throws them over board, i even seen people get hit by other boats and thrown over board only to drown because the impact knocked them out or broke bones resulting in a death that could have been prevented if they had only worn a life jacket. It really broke my heart when i would have to recover a childs body because mom and dad let the kid talk them out of putting a flotation device on the kid or the parents think thier little one is a strong swimmer and will be ok without one.
    I worked a case here back in the early 90’s where a mother, father and a son were out in the gulf about a mile off the beach fishing. The dad dropped anchor and mom and son decided they were hot and jumped in for a quick swim. The current was moving so fast they were swept away from the boat before dad could help, thier son drown that day. All i can say is ya’ll please wear your life jackets, you spent the money to buy them, so why not use’em.