FWC Law Enforcement Report

January 5, 2017

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending December 29 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Multiple agencies responded to a call regarding a man who fell into the Escambia River and was missing. Officers searched the area by land, water and air. Shortly after arriving, FWC Pilot Tolbert and Lieutenant Golloher located the victim by air within a mile from where he fell in (pictured top). Uniformed officers recovered the body by vessel.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Hutchinson received information about a subject who shot an antlerless deer out of season with a modern firearm. After an initial investigation, he learned that the individual was a convicted felon and could not legally possess a firearm. Officers Hutchinson and Clark arrived at the individual’s property in the early morning hours and made contact with his brother-in-law who also lives on the property. The officers discovered the antlerless deer carcass inside a barrel that was hanging from a skinning rack. They also discovered an ice chest with the meat from the antlerless deer. After questioning the individual, he agreed to take the officers to where the suspect was living on the property. They drove through the property to a wooded area that had a two‑story shooting house in the bushes. The brother-in-law informed the officers that the suspect lived in the shooting house. The officers made contact with the suspect who admitted to using a modern firearm to shoot the antlerless deer out of season. The officers discovered that the suspect did not have a valid Florida hunting license and that he trespassed onto a nearby hunting club to harvest the deer. The suspect turned over the firearm used to harvest the deer. The officers seized the firearm and the deer meat. The suspect was issued a notice to appear for taking an antlerless deer out of season. Additional charges are pending.

Officer Jones was patrolling the Eglin WMA when he encountered a hunter driving a vehicle on an Eglin Range road well before legal time to enter Eglin property. The officer issued a notice to appear citation for early entry.

Officers Hoomes and Long were patrolling the Roberts Pond in the Eglin WMA when they located footprints leading into a closed area. The officers located a freshly killed antlerless deer approximately 50 yards from where an individual entered the closed area. The officers also located a receipt from a local retail vendor which appeared to have been left as a marker to locate where the illegal deer was killed. The officers located the individual by using information from the receipt and interviewed him about the deer. The suspect admitted to shooting the deer and leaving it in the woods because some hunters in the area saw him attempting to retrieve it. The subject also admitted to dropping the receipt on the edge of the road as a marker when he returned to retrieve the deer. The subject was issued citations for taking an antlerless deer during closed season and for hunting in a closed area in Eglin WMA. He was issued a warning for the willful and wanton waste of wildlife.

Officers Roberson, Hoomes and Long responded to a complaint of individuals hunting with dogs in the Yellow River WMA. The officers located the individuals who were hunting rabbits with dogs. The area is closed to this activity and they were issued citations for the violations.

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.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News