FWC Law Enforcement Report

June 7, 2016

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending June 2 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Officer Allgood concentrated his patrols this week in state waters.  He issued six notice to appear citations for possession of undersized trigger fish and two for undersized greater amberjack.  He also issued several other related warnings.

Lieutenant Lambert observed an individual operating a vessel in violation of the idle speed zone near the Navy Point Boat Ramp.  When he stopped the vessel to address the violation, he noticed several signs that indicated the operator was impaired.  The operator performed poorly on several sobriety tasks and was arrested for boating under the influence (BUI).  The operator was transported to the Escambia County Jail, where he refused to give a breath sample.

Officers Cushing, Manning, Livesay, Ramos, Roberson and Lieutenant Berryman responded at the request of the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) by land and sea to two overdue paddle boarders in the Gulf of Mexico at Pensacola Beach. Approximately 1 ½ hours into the search, the two missing parties were located safely on land by emergency personnel.

Officers Manning, Pettey and Investigator Livesay patrolled offshore in federal waters this weekend conducting fisheries inspections.  They documented 15 federal violations for possession of red snapper in a closed season and also documented several other state violation warnings.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Roberson and Lieutenant Berryman were conducting boating safety and fishery inspections at the Navarre Beach Boat Ramp when they observed a vessel come in with improper navigational lights and an expired registration decal displayed. Additionally, the officers observed fishing gear and two open beer cans on the console of the vessel.  As the operator retrieved his vehicle to load his boat and while loading his boat onto the trailer, he showed signs of possible impairment.  Officer Roberson conducted a boating safety and marine fishery inspection and spoke to the operator about his navigational lights and his expired registration. During this conversation, Officer Roberson became more suspicious that the operator may have been impaired and asked if he would perform field sobriety tasks.  The operator agreed to do so and subsequently failed these tasks. He was placed under arrest for operating a vessel while under the influence.  He was then transported to the Santa Rosa County Jail where he refused any additional testing.

Officers McHenry, Clark and Hutchinson were patrolling the Intracoastal Waterway near Big Lagoon State Park and observed a vessel travelling towards them in an idle speed zone creating a wake. The vessel was passing other vessels who were obeying the idle speed restriction.  The officers stopped the vessel and observed a male subject with four female subjects on board who all appeared to be under the influence of alcohol.  While speaking with the male subject who was operating the vessel, they noticed several alcoholic beverages inside of the vessel.  After conducting a boating safety inspection and interviewing the operator, it was clear that the subject’s normal faculties were impaired from being under the influence of alcohol.  The female subjects had a friend meet them and take possession of the vessel. The subject was arrested for BUI and transported to the Escambia County Jail.

Officer Ramos encountered a man fishing on the beach.  A records check revealed that he had three warrants from another state for sexual assault.  The man was arrested without incident.

Officers Cushing and Land patrolled both federal and state waters over the Memorial Day weekend conducting marine fisheries inspections.  The officers conducted fishery inspections on 45 vessels and found 12 of them to be in violation of marine fishery regulations.  The violations included possession of red snapper during the closed season, possession of undersized gray triggerfish, possession of undersized greater amberjack, using reef fish as bait and failure to allow for inspection.  All suspects were issued federal citations.

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

2 Responses to “FWC Law Enforcement Report”

  1. Mike on June 8th, 2016 1:07 pm

    @ B:

    Turns out that was David in his Lambo & they just let him go to save everybody some time & money, LOL! (Just joking!)

  2. B on June 7th, 2016 11:06 pm

    I wanna know what happened Last Friday with the FWC Officer chasing the car down I10, it pulling over then taking off again and I guess the driver stopping at the Davis hwy over pass and jumping out of the car… I went back through and there were many S.O and State troopers in the Mall parking lot.