FWC Law Enforcement Report

January 25, 2019

The Florida FWC Division of Law Enforcement reported the following activity during the period ending January 3 in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY

Officer Land was conducting resource inspections on the Escambia River. He encountered a group of subjects who were duck hunting. Officer Land began checking each subject’s firearm to ensure it was only capable of holding three shells. One of the subjects informed Officer Land that his shotgun did not have a plug in it. Officer Land inspected the firearm and found that it could hold more than three shells. It is not legal to use a firearm capable of holding more than three shells to take migratory birds. The appropriate action was taken for the violation.

Officers Allgood and Jackson located a baited site on Escambia River Wildlife Management area. Officer Allgood continued to monitor the baited site for several days. Officers Allgood and Hutchinson along with K9 Zara saw a boat parked near the baited stand. The officers approached the subject and after a short interview, the subject admitted to placing food attractant in the management area. The subject was issued a resource citation for placing bait in the Wildlife Management Area.

Officer Allgood was on water patrol working duck hunting on the Escambia River. He saw a group of duck hunters and conducted a resource inspection after the hunt was over. During the inspection, Officer Allgood found one of the subject’s shotgun was unplugged and could hold more than three shells. Officer Allgood issued the group several citations to include hunting waterfowl with a shotgun capable of holding more than three rounds and multiple license violations.

Officer Allgood was on water patrol on the Escambia River working duck hunting. He conducted a resource inspection on a group of duck hunters. The inspection revealed that a subject had taken four wood ducks using lead shot. Officer Allgood issued a resource citation to the subject for taking ducks with lead shot.

Officer Allgood checked a mullet harvester underneath the Highway 90 Bridge in Milton. During his inspection of his fish and fishing license, Officer Allgood smelled a strong odor of cannabis coming from the subject’s bag located next to him. The officer explained he smelled cannabis and asked the man where it was. The man admitted to having cannabis in the bag. During the inspection of the bag, Officer Allgood found cannabis, methamphetamine, a metal pipe with residue in it, another metal pipe and a small digital scale. The subject was placed under arrest and transported and booked in the Santa Rosa Jail.

Officer Cushing was working the Escambia River WMA at location known to be frequented by duck hunters. After legal shooting hours expired, he heard 18 shotgun shots from a group of subjects. Officer Cushing waited until they returned to land and questioned the two subjects about legal waterfowl shooting hours. Both subjects admitted to shooting after hours. In addition, one of the subjects was using an unplugged shotgun. The appropriate state citations were issued.

Officers Cushing and Clark conducted a fisheries inspection of a recreational fishing vessel returning through the Pensacola Pass. Officer Clark discovered several closed season gray triggerfish in the vessel’s cooler. Officer Clark documented the state violations accordingly.

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

Officer Land witnessed a pickup truck transporting a large quantity of used tires on the highway. The vehicle was not displaying the proper decal to transport more than 25 waste tires. Officer Land conducted a traffic stop to address the violation. There were three individuals in the vehicle. The driver did not possess the required permit to haul more than 25 waste tires, he was driving with a suspended driver’s license and he was in possession of drug paraphernalia. The two passengers both had warrants out of Okaloosa County. The appropriate actions were taken to address the violations.

While on patrol during the recent archery season on Eglin WMA, Officer Jones found a baited hunting site. After checking the area for several days without contact with the subject, he seized all hunting equipment at the site as evidence. After an investigation Officer Jones was able to identify the owner of the hunting equipment and was able to file charges for placing bait on a wildlife management area.

Officer Mullins was on water patrol on the Escambia River working duck hunting. He heard several shots that were after the legal hunting hours. The officer located four subjects who admitted to shooting after hours. Upon inspection Officer Mullins discovered one of the subjects with an unplugged shotgun, and another hunting with no valid hunting license. Officer Mullins issued the appropriate citations and warnings.

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

2 Responses to “FWC Law Enforcement Report”

  1. Don Neese on January 27th, 2019 7:22 am

    Thanks officers!!! We wouldn’t have any ducks left if it weren’t for your hard work wading through the freezing water.
    Duck hunters used to be the law abiding crowd. We were always thinking about the next generation.
    The next generation is here and they don’t seem very thankful.

  2. Legal hunters on January 26th, 2019 9:21 pm

    Great job guys! We see this all the time. I’m happy to see actions being taken to handle illegal hunters.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News