FWC Law Enforcement Report

October 24, 2018

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the weekly period ending October 4 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

No report was submitted for Escambia County.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Jones was on patrol on the Eglin Wildlife Management Area when he saw a vehicle operating recklessly and at excessive speed on a sand trail. When the officer attempted to make contact, the vehicle fled the area. A bulletin was issued for law enforcement to be on the lookout for the vehicle. A Highway Patrol Trooper stopped the vehicle a short while later. After interviewing the driver of the suspect vehicle, the officer issued a citation for careless driving and anotice to appear for being on the Eglin Reservation without the required permit.

Officers Hoomes, Jones, and Roberson were on the Eglin Wildlife Management Area searching for subjects illegally harvesting palmetto berries for commercial purposes. While conducting surveillance, Officer Jones saw a suspicious vehicle approaching his position on a very minimal sand trail. The vehicle was attempting to leave when the officer contacted the two occupants. They were issued notices to appear for not possessing the required Eglin permits. Later in the evening, Officer Hoomes found footprints which he backtracked to a hidden cache of 550 pounds of illegally harvested palmetto berries. The berries were seized, weighed, and disposed of with the help of FWC Wildlife Technician McDonald.

Officer Hutchinson and Lieutenant Hahr located a baited dove field prior to the opening day of the dove hunting season. On opening day, the officers along with Officer Mullins checked several subjects on the baited field and addressed several violations. Despite ending the hunt early, they determined that one subject was over the bag limit and that others had combined their birds. Twelve subjects were cited for hunting over a baited field and several others were warned for other hunting violations including over the daily bag limit of doves.

Officer Hutchinson located a truck stuck in a ditch in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area. The owner had driven back to it on an ATV to try and get it out of the mud. The truck’s tracks indicated that the driver intentionally left the center of the road and drove through the soft mud along the shoulder. The driver was issued a citation for damaging state land with a motor vehicle and littering. The driver was also warned for operating an ATV on a management area.

Lieutenant Lambert checked a duck hunter who was attempting to take waterfowl after legal shooting hours at Salters Lake in Escambia River Wildlife Management Area. Upon inspection, Lieutenant Lambert also found the subject was in possession of lead shot and was hunting with an unplugged shotgun. Lieutenant Lambert addressed the violations with the subject.

Officer Hutchinson and K-9 Zara were on patrol when they saw a light actively being shined from a vehicle into a field in a manner capable of disclosing the presence of deer. While watching the vehicle from a discreet location, Officer Hutchinson saw the truck exit the field and travel away from him. Officer Hutchison followed behind the vehicle and saw two dead deer, one buck and one antlerless deer in the bed of the vehicle. Officer Hutchison conducted a vehicle stop and discovered the two subjects in the vehicle were in possession of a spotlight, a scoped rifle and a shotgun along with the two deer and a freshly killed rabbit. Through his investigation, Officer Hutchison discovered that the two men had shot a third deer in another field nearby. He drove to the field and conducted an area search with his K-9 partner Zara. K-9 Zara located fresh blood and tracked for approximately 100 yards until she discovered the illegally taken deer in thick brush. Both subjects admitted to taking the deer and rabbit using a gun and light. Both subjects were cited for taking deer with the use of a gun and light.

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.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News