FWC Law Enforcement Report

March 22, 2018

FWC Law Enforcement Report

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending March 8 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Officer McHenry completed his investigation on a derelict vessel located in the Santa Rosa Sound. The owner of the vessel claimed he sold it, but did not have a bill of sale or proof of transferred title. Officer Allgood issued the subject a notice to appear citation for the derelict vessel. Citations were also issued for improper lighting and expired registration.

Officer Pettey issued a notice to appear citation to an individual for turkey hunting in a closed season in McDavid. The individual was discovered turkey hunting by a hunting club member who relayed the information. After an interview, the subject admitted to hunting turkey out of season. Charges were filed with the State Attorney’s Office for attempting to take turkey out of season.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Hutchinson was patrolling in Blackwater State Forest when he observed a campsite where a man and woman were packing up. As he pulled up, the man threw items under a log. A quick look revealed drug paraphernalia. A closer look revealed numerous items of drug paraphernalia and several containers with cocaine in various forms. The subjects were also in possession of methamphetamine. The woman admitted to making crack cocaine in the campsite and smoking methamphetamine. Both subjects were charged with manufacturing crack cocaine, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia and booked in the Santa Rosa County Jail.

Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in Blackwater State Forest when he observed a campsite where some of the people were drinking alcoholic beverages. As he approached them, the five subjects passed around a cannabis pipe and each of them smoked from it. Lieutenant Hahr identified himself and seized the pipe, a bag of cannabis, and numerous items of drug paraphernalia. All five subjects were charged with possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers Ramos, Lugg, Wilkerson, Clark, Long, Cushing and Land participated in targeted enforcement of pompano regulations along Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Escambia County beaches. The officers checked more than 200 anglers in a two-week span resulting in 5 citations and 12 warnings for various violations.

Officer Ramos was patrolling the Santa Rosa Sound and observed a vessel operating in the Quietwater Beach area. A routine boating safety inspection was conducted and the operator could not produce two required safety items or the required registration. He stated he bought the boat two years ago but could not produce a bill of sale or any type of registration. Officer Ramos followed the vessel to a nearby boat ramp where the operator recovered the vessel from the water. The truck used to pull the boat did not have a registration tag on it nor the vessel trailer. After a thorough investigation, the operator was deemed to have purchased the out-of-state vessel in 2013 and failed to transfer the title. The truck he was driving had an expired registration of 2016. The owner was issued a criminal citation for failing to record an out of state vessel, a traffic citation for expired vehicle registration greater than 6 months, a boating citation for failing to carry required safety equipment, as well as multiple warnings for other violations.

Officer Ramos observed two men return from a fishing trip and followed them to a local boat ramp. The vessel was pushing a wake in an idle speed zone until they saw the officer approach. After a boating safety inspection, Officer Ramos asked if the men had caught any fish. The men showed him ten gray snapper and several unregulated fish in a cooler. Upon measuring the snapper, seven of the ten were undersized. The captain of the vessel admitted he should have measured the fish and took responsibility for the seven undersized fish. The fish were seized and the man was cited for the undersized fish and issued a warning for violating the idle speed zone.

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.

NorthEscambia.com photo.

Comments

One Response to “FWC Law Enforcement Report”

  1. WhisperjetWp on March 22nd, 2018 8:20 am

    ..good job guys..outlaws don’t like game wardens , but without them , there would not be much game or fish for the rest of us..

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News