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.
NORTHWEST REGION
BAY COUNTY
Officers Wicker and Price responded to call about a missing person on Shell Island. The missing person had called FWC dispatch on her cell phone and said she got separated from her husband, got lost on the Island, and was now unable to move anymore due to arthritis. She also couldn’t give any information about where she was, who dropped her off on the island, or where she was dropped off. FWC dispatch was able to get a GPS ping off her cell phone, plot it on the computer, and send the information to the officers. When the officers arrived close to the suspected location, they hit their siren several times and then heard her yelling for help. The officers waded to shore and found the subject sitting on the ground, yelling for help, and waving a shirt in the air. The officers helped her onto her feet and escorted her back to the patrol boat where they gave her some food and water. The female was reunited with her husband.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Officer Jones was conducting fishery inspections near Fort Pickens at the Pensacola Pass. He contacted three fishermen on a vessel who were in possession of a cobia that measured 31 inches in length. The minimum length by Florida law is 33 inches measured to the fork of the tail. The fishermen said that they were sure it was long enough, but they had no measuring device. Officer Jones issued a notice to appear to the operator of the boat who accepted responsibility for the illegal catch.
GULF COUNTY
Officers Lipford and Webb were on vessel patrol offshore from Mexico Beach when they observed a vessel with one subject on board fishing. They conducted a resource inspection and nine undersized red snapper were located. The fisher was issued a citation for possession of undersized red snapper and possession of red snapper during a closure.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Officer H. Rockwell inspected a vessel on Hurricane Lake which revealed two subjects in possession of undersized black bass. The subjects admitted to knowing the legal size limit. One of the subjects claimed possession of the illegal fish and was issued a citation.
Officer Molnar conducted a vessel stop for improper display of registration numbers and a boating safety inspection. The only occupant and operator of the vessel was under the age of 21 and was in possession of multiple alcoholic beverages. While Officer Molnar conducted the investigation, the subject’s friend arrived at the dock operating a PWC. After speaking with the friend, Officer Molnar noticed he was showing multiple signs of impairment. After field sobriety tasks were completed on the friend, he was arrested for BUI. He provided a breath sample of .126 and .122 BrAC and was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail. The subject under the age of 21 was charged with possession of alcohol by a person under 21.
The FWC Offshore Patrol Vessel Vigilance made its maiden voyage out of Destin. On its first patrol, officers attempted to stop a vessel in federal waters about 10.5 miles south of the Destin Pass. When they approached, the officers noticed the suspect vessel turn and began throwing red snapper from the boat. The Captain then got on the ship’s loud speaker and advised them to stop throwing fish overboard while one of the subjects was still in the act. During the boarding, the crew found them to still be in possession of one red snapper. The subjects admitted to throwing the red snapper from the boat and stated that they didn’t think the fish would float. All five subjects were federally charged with possession of red snapper during closed season. Two of the subjects were charged for throwing the fish overboard resulting in a total of seven federal charges. All fish were recovered for evidence.
Officers Molnar and Pifer conducted a vessel stop in the Destin Pass to conduct a resource inspection. Upon further investigation, the officers found two separate subjects in possession of gag grouper out of season. Both subjects were issued notice to appear citations for possession of gag grouper out of season. An additional citation was issued for no saltwater fishing license.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson and Investigator Hughes were patrolling the Escambia River Wildlife Management Area when they observed a vessel with two occupants pull up to a bush hook tied to a tree limb on the edge of the river. They observed the passenger in the front of the vessel pull the bush hook out of the water and hand it to the vessel operator. The operator then baited the line and placed it back into the water. The officers made contact with the occupants and discovered that the operator did not have a valid freshwater fishing license. After further investigation, they discovered the bush hook was not properly tagged and it was baited with parts of a game fish. The subjects were issued citations for using game fish for bait on a bush hook and fishing without a license.
The Fincat crew was on patrol over the weekend in both state and federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A state citation was issued to a fisherman returning from an overnight fishing trip early in the morning. When asked if he had any fish, he stated he had one “big eye.” He quickly offered to show the officers the fish from afar. A closer inspection revealed a 33 inch red snapper. Later that day, while waiting near a dive boat, a diver surfaced unaware of the officers’ presence. The officers overheard the diver stating he had two amberjack, one of which he thought was too small. The fish was five inches too short. The diver was issued a citation for undersized greater amberjack. While initiating another vessel inspection in federal waters, one of the fishermen stated to the officers that they had a king mackerel and a few other fish. During the inspection, Officer Land located a bag of 14 gray triggerfish fillets, four red snapper fillets, two gag grouper fillets and two pompano fillets. Federal citations were issued to all four subjects for multiple violations.
COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING
GULF COUNTY
Officer M. Webb spoke with approximately 100 graduating seniors from Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka about careers as an FWC officer. The seniors were receptive and asked many questions. It was a great opportunity for the FWC to reach out to future potential officers.
NORTHEAST REGION
VOLUSIA COUNTY
Officer Ransom was on patrol when he encountered a vessel returning to a boat ramp after a night of recreational shrimping. Ransom located two buckets and a cooler containing 13 gallons of shrimp onboard the vessel. This is more than twice the bag limit. Eight gallons of shrimp were seized and the vessel operator was cited for the violation.
Officers Ransom and Ward teamed up over a two week period to document the intentional destruction of three gopher tortoise burrows in Volusia County. During the first visit to the property, the officers documented one destroyed burrow and two intact, active burrows on the property. On a return visit, the two active burrows had also been destroyed. The officers obtained a witness statement from a neighbor who observed the violation and a verbal confession from the landowner who admitted to using his tractor to fill in the burrows. The violator complained of government intrusion and stated that sometimes it’s better to say you’re sorry afterward than to ask for permission. The charge of intentional destruction of active gopher tortoise burrows has been direct filed with the Volusia County State Attorney’s office.
Officer Ransom was on night patrol when he conducted a boating safety inspection on a vessel that was leaving Highbanks Marina. During the inspection Officer Ransom observed visible signs of impairment from the operator. After conducting field sobriety exercises, Officer Ransom determined that the operator was under the influence to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired. He was placed under arrest for boating under the influence and transported to the Volusia County Jail. The operator refused to provide a breath sample.
BREVARD COUNTY
While on vessel patrol, Officer Lightsey received a call in reference to a physical altercation at Sebastian Inlet. The officer spoke to the victim, who advised he was fishing next to the jetty when a man on the pier threatened him and threw a lead sinker and hook at him and his vessel numerous times, damaging the vessel and nearly hitting him. This has been an ongoing issue at Sebastian Inlet. The victim told the officer he had used a GoPro video to record the whole incident. The officer took statements from witnesses, the victim and the suspect who stated that he did throw the sinker and hooks at the man. After meeting with the suspect and watching the video, charges were filed with the State Attorney’s office for aggravated assault, throwing a deadly missile into occupied vessel on State waters, Harassment of a fisherman, and criminal mischief.
Officer Krynicki was on patrol in Sebastian Inlet State Park when he observed a vehicle parked near a pavilion. As Officer Krynicki approached the vehicle he noticed what appeared to be light coming from the flame of a lighter. When the Officer made contact with the occupants of the vehicle he smelt the odor of burnt cannabis coming from inside the car. Upon further investigation, almost two grams of cannabis were seized and a Notice to Appear was issued to one of the occupants of the vehicle.
PUTNAM COUNTY
Officers Campbell and Guirate were on foot patrol on private property when they located several active feeders and two tree stands. Near one of the tree stands they found a hole that had been covered with plywood and logs. They noticed what appeared to be hair from a black bear around the hole. They uncovered the hole to find a bear carcass they believed had been there for approximately two months. The officers monitored the area when two weeks later they were on foot patrol on the adjacent property when they made contact with a person standing outside his barn. As the officers spoke to the person they smelled a strong odor of marijuana. When questioned about this, the suspect admitted that he had marijuana plants growing inside his house. The Sheriff’s Department responded with a search warrant. Eighty (80) marijuana plants and two truckloads of indoor grow equipment were seized as evidence. The suspect was booked into the county jail for cultivation of marijuana. Approximately one week later, the officers returned to the property where they found the dead bear and they encountered the property owner filling his feeders. The officers conducted an interview and the suspect admitted to shooting the bear in December while deer hunting from one of his tree stands. One count of taking a Florida Black Bear was filed through the State Attorney’s Office.
NORTH CENTRAL REGION
Duval County
Officers from FWC’s Resource Protection Squad responded to complaints from area shrimp boat captains concerning trawlers dragging inside State waters during the closed season in Northeast Florida. While conducting surveillance in an unmarked vessel, a trawler was marked on radar as being inside three miles and heading west toward the coast. A subsequent GPS check showed the boat to be 2.8 miles off the beach. The captain was cited for harvesting shrimp in closed waters.
SOUTHWEST REGION
CHARLOTTE COUNTY
Officers Zampella and Howard were on land patrol when they entered a local boat ramp. When they arrived, a vessel was at the ramp but began to leave. The officers asked the operator if he had caught any fish. The man said yes and the officers began a boating safety and fisheries inspection. During the inspection, the man opened a compartment and said, “The fish are in here,” and then quickly closed it. The officers boarded the boat and found him to be in possession of 3 undersized gag grouper. Citations were issued for over the bag limit, undersized and out of season gag grouper.
PASCO COUNTY
Officer Balfour, Beckman, and Cocke were on water patrol in the area of Anclote River Park, when they observed a vessel violating the idle speed zone. A vessel stop was initiated for the violation and the operator was showing signs of impairment. Field sobriety tasks were conducted, which lead to the operator being arrested for boating under the influence. He was transported to the Pasco County Jail without incident, where he refused to provide a breath sample.
SOUTH REGION A
BROWARD COUNTY
Captain Warrick, Lieutenant Laubenberger, and Officers K. Wright and Trawinski participated in the annual Broward County Police Memorial Service. In attendance were family survivors of Law Enforcement Officers killed in the line of duty. Honor Guard Members from all Broward County Police Agencies were in attendance in addition to K-9’s and their handlers to pay respect to the fallen officers and fallen K-9’s. The ceremony included Proclamations and a speech from a Guest Speaker. In addition; Taps, Amazing Grace, an aviation fly-over and ceremonial laying of roses at the Memorial were included in the ceremony.
Officer Trawinski participated in the funeral viewing service for a retired BSO and Lauderhill police Officer. He participated in the Broward Police Multi Agency Honor Guard’s ceremonial guarding of the officers casket.
Investigator Teems was on uniform patrol in John Lloyd State Park. She observed a group of five young people sitting on a blanket on the ground with a Bacardi bottle sitting halfway in a Styrofoam cooler. She approached the group and explained park rules in reference to no consumption of alcoholic beverage allowed. She received a complaint from a park patron advising her the group she had been talking to, was smoking marijuana. She re-approached the group. With information gathered from the conversation, one individual was given a criminal notice to appear for possession of marijuana. A ceramic jar and marijuana were seized as evidence and entered into evidence at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Evidence Facility.
Lieutenant McDonald and Officer Warne participated in an event with Ray Rotenberger. Mr. Rotenberger built a camp and an airstrip in the late ‘50s and early 60’s on the land that is now Rotenberger Wildlife Management Area. Mr. Rotenberger went on an airboat ride through Rotenberger WMA accompanied by his family and friends, who are part of various local hunt groups and conservation clubs and are advocates for the Everglades. Mr. Rotenberger played a key role in protecting the land and keeping it in its natural state rather than becoming farmlands.
Investigator Teems initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle near Parking Lot #2 in John Lloyd State Park for a traffic violation. Investigator Teems immediately smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. She asked the driver if they had any drugs in the car. Upon further investigation the driver of the vehicle was issued a criminal notice to appear for possession of marijuana and one payable traffic citation. Marijuana was seized as evidence and entered in to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Evidence Facility.
PALM BEACH COUNTY
Officers Godward and Wright were at Phil Foster Boat Ramp preforming vessel inspections. A commercial vessel came into the ramp and during an inspection of the vessel commercial quantities of black drum were found. The vessel had a current saltwater products license, but did not have a restricted species licenses which is required. Twenty-eight (28) black drum were seized as evidence and the operator of the vessel was issued a misdemeanor citation.
While conducting vessel patrol on Lake Okeechobee, Officer Toby observed a vessel with two individuals on board operating on state waters. Officer Toby had stopped this vessel two days prior and conducted a safety gear check. At that time, there were multiple safety gear violations and the operator was cited accordingly. Additionally, the two occupants in the vessel were shown to be in possession of over their daily bag limit of pan fish and were each issued a warning for this violation. When Officer Toby observed this vessel operating two days later, he stopped the vessel to conduct a follow up safety gear check to see if the previous violations had been corrected. During this inspection, all of the safety gear requirements were now met; however, one of the occupants was shown to be in possession of an undersized black bass. The individual was issued a misdemeanor citation for this violation.
While on foot patrol at the Belle Glade Structure, Officer Toby observed an individual fishing in a restricted portion of South Florida Water Management property. Officer Toby escorted the individual out of the restricted area and conducted a fisheries inspection. Upon conclusion, the Individual was issued an infraction citation for not having a freshwater fishing license and a misdemeanor citation for trespassing on South Florida Water Management property.
SOUTH REGION B
COLLIER COUNTY
FWC received formation from an anonymous source at Crime Stoppers that a man was selling baby American alligators out of a residence in Naples. The subject was identified and Officer Futch and Investigator II O’Horo interviewed the man at his residence. The man confessed to capturing alligators at a canal at the end of his street, but denied that he was selling them. The man then led the Officers to a storage closet where he was keeping twelve baby alligators in an aquarium. He was arrested and booked into the Collier County Jail for felony capture and possession of alligators. The alligators were released at the original capture site.
Officers Barringer and White attended the Marco Island Sport Fishing Club Annual Meeting. The fishing club is known as one of the largest fishing clubs in Southwest Florida. Over one hundred club members were excited to learn the updated fishing rules and regulations for 2015. Both Officers spoke to the group and provided them with new and updated regulations for off-shore fisheries and back-water fishing.
Officers Barringer, Harris, Johnson, Lugg, Reith, Van Trees and White along with Sea Tow Naples, Naples Police Department and the Naples Fire Department responded to a call off a beach in the Port Royal area, near Gordon’s Pass, regarding a missing swimmer. The swimmer attempted to swim out to a sandbar off the coast, which was deeper than he expected it to be and attempted to swim back to shore. The swimmer’s body was recovered in the Gulf of Mexico waters.
Lieutenant Williams, Investigator II Cook, and Officers Futch, Miller, Reams, Thurkettle and Tolbert have been monitoring several illicit cannabis grow sites in the Picayune Strand State Forest. Over the course of several weeks, the Officers were able to develop a suspect as well as a predictable pattern of movement to and from the forest. When the suspect entered the forest, the Officers coordinated with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), who then provided an aviation unit to locate and surveille the suspect. The air unit relayed the suspect’s direction of travel, which was headed towards one of the cannabis grow areas. The Officers were in concealed locations and watched the suspect cultivate the cannabis plants. The Officers announced their presence and took the suspect into custody without incident. The Officers then coordinated with the CCSO Narcotics Unit who assisted with the collection, packaging and documentation of the evidence. In total, over 214 pounds of cannabis was seized. The suspect was booked into the CCSO jail for the felony of cultivating marijuana and trafficking marijuana.
While on offshore patrol, Officers Harris and White observed a disturbance in the water around 4 stone crab buoys. Upon closer inspection they found a 700 pound leatherback sea turtle caught in the buoy lines. The turtle was towing 4 traps and was struggling for air. The Officers caught the turtle and removed the lines allowing the turtle to swim away freely.
“The Great Dock Canoe Race” was held in Naples drawing thousands of spectators to the water. Hundreds of vessels congregated on the southern tip of Keewaydin Island within the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve area for the after party. FWC Officers coordinated with local law enforcement to ensure the event’s safety. FWC Officers arrested 4 individuals for boating under the influence and issued several citations and warnings. Additionally, there were no reportable boating accidents and no injuries.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
Officers Pino, Pestka and Hunter worked a detail targeting illegally parked vehicles at Oleta River State Park. As a result of their efforts the officers wrote 19 parking citations.
Officers patrolling the waters of Biscayne Bay boarded a commercial fishing vessel to conduct a fisheries inspection. During the inspection one of the officers observed a lobster shell inside a crab trap. The boat owner indicated that no lobster were on the vessel. While inspecting the engine room, an officer noticed a white plastic bag stashed behind some engine equipment. This bag, and four more located on the boat, contained a total of 87 wrung lobster tails. The captain and the 4 deck hands were charged accordingly.
MONROE COUNTY
Officers Foell and Bulger were on duty, in plain clothes, on Long Key Bridge when they observed three individuals place what appeared to be fish in a white plastic bag and concealed it in thick weeds next to the bridge. The Officers then watched the individuals as they actively fished for over an hour. The officers then approached the subjects and announced themselves as FWC Officers. They asked the subjects to see all of the fish they had caught. The subjects showed the officers two mangrove snapper and denied keeping anymore. The officers asked multiple times if they had any more fish in the area and the subjects replied they did not. The officers found the white plastic bag in the nearby weeds and it contained 16 mangrove snappers, which was more than their legal bag limit, and 8 of them being undersized. The subjects were cited accordingly.
Officer Schroth received information from a concerned citizen that a man was fishing under the Tea Table Bridge in Islamorada and keeping undersized black grouper. When Officer Schroth responded to the area and walked down the embankment she saw a man fishing. As soon as the man saw the officer he took the lid off of a large white plastic serving bowl that was located next to him and threw the contents, which looked like a fish, into the water. Officer Schroth ran towards the subject and ordered him to move away from the water’s edge. A search of the immediate area revealed another white serving bowl containing an undersized black grouper. The subject was charged with possessing an undersized black grouper and not having a fishing license.
Officer Richards was patrolling the commercial fishing docks in Key West when he inspected a fishing vessel that had just returned from a 15 day fishing trip from federal waters. Officer Richards boarded the vessel and conducted a fisheries inspection. During the inspection Officer Richards discovered eight greater amberjacks in the holding bin. Currently there is a closure on amberjack. The captain of the vessel claimed ignorance however, he was still sited for the possession of amberjack during the closure.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report