NORTHWEST REGION
ESCAMBIA COUNTY
Over the last couple of weeks, Officer Livesay has been working a site in Perdido River Wildlife Management Area (WMA) that was baited with sweet potatoes. This week, he made contact with the hunter who he suspected put the bait out. The hunter admitted to putting the bait out and deer hunting at the baited site. Officer Livesay issued the subject a notice to appear criminal citation for placing bait in a WMA.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
While conducting plainclothes water patrol near St.GeorgeIsland, Officers Stephens and Nelson observed a group of five individuals duck hunting in ApalachicolaBay. Officers Stephens and Nelson watched the group of hunters and observed the group shoot over the bag limit of red head ducks. The officers conducted a resource inspection of the group and found them to be over the bag limit of red head ducks and appropriate citations were issued.
Officers Raker and Miller were on land patrol in Tate’s HellStateForest and observed a pickup truck with the driver wearing camouflage and a hunter orange vest on the dashboard of the truck. The vehicle began to drive north on State Forest Road 427 after observing the officer’s patrol vehicle. The officers stopped the vehicle to conduct a resource inspection. After they made contact with the driver of the vehicle, he advised that he had been hunting but had not seen anything. While speaking with the driver, the officers observed a scoped rifle in the passenger seat of the vehicle and determined the driver did have a valid hunting license. The driver then advised the officers that his Florida driver license may be suspended. FWC Communications confirmed that the individual’s driver license was suspended and that his vehicle registration was expired. Communications also advised that the driver of the vehicle had two felony convictions. The officers placed the individual under arrest. Upon inspecting and seizing the weapon for evidentiary purposes, the officers determined the serial numbers had been removed from the firearm. Appropriate citations and warnings were issued for the violations.
INVESTIGATIONS SECTION
Northwest Region Investigations closed out a felony fraud case this week that originated in March of 2015 with a tip from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A subject located in VolusiaCounty was selling Osceola Turkey hunts that included alligator hunts and wild hog. He had also offered elk hunts in Montana. The subject promised to provide all required licenses and private land hunts along with a condo and meals but never provided what was promised to clients. Twenty victims from six different states were identified, interviewed with statements and provided email and text evidence. The victims were scammed out of a combined total in excess of $16,000. The suspect was using the National Wild Turkey Federation as a front to make contact with the victims. After traveling to VolusiaCounty in July of 2015, charges were filed, warrant obtained and the suspect turned himself in. A plea agreement was reached and the defendant was adjudicated guilty, fined costs, sentenced to probation and full restitution to the victims was ordered. Ten thousand dollars was paid up front with the remainder to be paid within the first year as a condition of probation.
LEON COUNTY
Officers Robb, Boutwell and Nelson were working a night hunting detail in northeast LeonCounty. During the detail, the officers observed a pickup truck make several passes by their location at a slow rate of speed. A short time later, the same vehicle made another pass and the officers observed a spotlight from the driver’s side window shine a wooded area nearby. The officers stopped the pickup truck and its two occupants. Inside the vehicle, the officers found a loaded .30-06 caliber rifle with scope in plain view and a loaded 9 mm handgun in the glove box. The subjects were interviewed and admitted to attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light. The driver of the vehicle was also arrested and booked into the Leon County Jail for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Officers Raker and Miller were on land patrol in the ApalachicolaNational Forest and observed five UTVs traveling westbound on Forest Road 320. They made contact with the drivers of the UTVs and interviewed the individuals. All of the drivers but one admitted they knew they were riding in an unapproved area. Appropriate citations were issued to the drivers.
LIBERTY COUNTY
Officers Raker and Miller were on land patrol in the ApalachicolaNational Forest when they observed a vehicle traveling southbound on Forest Road 126 using a spotlight to illuminate the tree line along the side of the road. They made contact with the occupants of the vehicle who advised they were looking for deer. The officers located a loaded .243 rifle in the front seat of the truck, a spotlight and a loaded 12‑gauge shotgun in the back seat. Officers Miller and Raker also discovered two open containers of alcohol in the vehicle. The occupants stated the firearms and alcohol belonged to them after Miranda warnings were read. The officers issued citations to the individuals for the violations.
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
Officer Hutchinson received a phone call late at night from a Santa Rosa County Deputy who had stopped a truck in the Munson Seed Orchard within the Blackwater WMA. The deputy observed two subjects in the bed of the truck and found a shotgun they tried to hide from view. Officer Hutchinson arrived on scene and interviewed the three juveniles. All three eventually admitted to trying to kill a deer and explained their plans to the officers. The juveniles’ parents were contacted and all three were given notices to appear for attempting to take deer at night with a gun and light.
Officer Hutchinson received information that a subject had two tree stands in his yard and had supposedly stolen them from a closed section of Blackwater WMA. While discussing it with his squad mates, Officer Hutchinson was informed by Officer Lewis that some stands and blinds were stolen from a section of Blackwater where the Florida Forest Service holds their Annual Wounded Warrior Hunt. The wounded veterans who had hunted there over the last few days went in to hunt and found their stands missing. Officers Lewis and Hutchinson went to the suspect’s home and observed a tree stand that fit the description of the stolen property. After interviewing the suspect, two additional suspects were identified, as well as another subject who bought one of the stands. After several interviews, the officers determined that the three suspects went hunting in the Emachamee closed area in Blackwater and stole two tree stands, a ground blind and more blind material. Two of the three suspects broke a lock off of a gate to enter the property. Charges of grand theft and criminal mischief were filed with the court and warrants were issued for the three suspects.
WAKULLA COUNTY
A subject was arrested in WakullaCounty on January 12 on a warrant for aggravated assault with a firearm. The charge stemmed from an incident on the St. Marks River in FranklinCounty in October of 2015. The defendant, who was on a houseboat, fired multiple rounds from a revolver towards a passing vessel occupied by two persons. Northwest Investigations worked the case, identified a suspect, and through witness statements, interviews and photo lineups, obtained enough evidence to obtain a warrant for the defendant’s arrest. Officer Boutwell along with deputies from the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, acting on information from Investigator Thomas, located the suspect at a residence near Crawfordville and arrested him on the warrant. He was then booked into the Wakulla County Jail.
While on patrol in Panacea, Officers Boutwell and Nelson conducted a vessel inspection of a duck hunting charter vessel with one occupant aboard. The charter captain had four times the daily bag limit of red head ducks in his possession. The captain advised that the ducks aboard his vessel belonged to his clients who were still actively duck hunting in the area. After the captain’s clients were located and all ducks in possession of the group were accounted for, it was determined that the charter captain and his clients were still over the bag limit of red head ducks, the captain was transporting over the bag limit of ducks and the ducks belonging to his clients were untagged. Appropriate citations and warnings were issued to the charter captain for the violations.
While on patrol in Sopchoppy, Lieutenant Marlow and Officer Boutwell received a complaint of an individual who killed two hen turkeys. They located the individual and interviewed him regarding the offense. The subject admitted to harvesting the two hens and provided them the meat and the remains of the two hens. Further interviewing provided that the individual killed the turkeys over bait. The individual drove to the kill site and showed the officers a large amount of corn with evidence of the kill in the middle of the bait site. The individual also did not possess a valid hunting license or turkey permit. Appropriate charges and citations were written.
NORTH CENTRAL REGION
BAKER COUNTY
Officers Bailey, Gill, Burnsed and Jenkins were patrolling the last weekend of deer season in the OsceolaNational Forest. The officers were targeting the use of deer dogs in the still hunt portion of the management area from numerous complaints. During the weekend, three cases of running deer dogs in the still hunt area were issued.
CITRUS COUNTY
CitrusCounty Sheriff’s office called for FWC assistance in locating an 87 year old male with dementia. He was last seen driving around lost in Citrus WMA. Lieutenant Loyed and Investigator Thomason responded to the area and began a search along with the Sheriff’s deputies. After approximately three hours of searching, the man was located walking down the road nine miles away. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Lieutenant Loyed and Officer Vanness conducted a search and rescue in Citrus WMA to locate a white female and her son. After a two hour search, the two subjects were located near where their vehicle had gotten stuck. The two were transported out of the area and had plans to come back the following day to retrieve their truck.
DIXIE COUNTY
Officer Cline was patrolling Log Landing WMA in DixieCounty. Officer Cline located numerous bags of trash dumped in the WMA. He then tracked the suspect back to a residence. During interviews the suspect admitted to dumping the trash in the WMA. Charges were filed for misdemeanor dumping in the WMA.
Lieutenant Williams was on land patrol in DixieCounty when he located four hunters leaving a secluded piece of private property. During initial contact with the hunters, they indicated that they had only killed two ducks and a buck deer. During a search of the hunter’s vehicle, Lieutenant Williams located two wood ducks, two gobbler turkeys, an illegal spike deer and additional fresh deer meat with no sex evidence present. The operator of the vehicle originally stated that the quartered deer with no sex evidence was a six point that another hunter had killed. Further interviews resulted in the operator confessing to killing a doe deer. Citations were issued for taking doe deer, taking illegal antlered deer and a warning issued for taking the two turkeys out of season. A .300 Weatherby magnum rifle and both deer were seized as evidence.
GILCHRISTCOUNTY
Lieutenant Williams, Officers Cline and Wiggins responded to a complaint of night hunting in NorthernGilchristCounty. During surveillance of the area, a suspect vehicle was stopped by Officer Cline. Through interviews, Officer Cline determined that the operator had just dropped off two suspects to pick up a deer they had shot earlier. Further investigation revealed they had fled on foot. Canine Officer Gill responded and assisted with the search. A freshly killed four point deer was located and after several hours, three of four suspects were located. A fourth suspect was located a week later in Gainesville. After numerous interviews with the multiple suspects, Officer Cline was able to track down two guns that were used to shoot the deer that were pawned at a pawn shop. Officer Cline direct filed charges with the Gilchrist County State Attorney’s Office on three of the suspects for taking deer at night with a gun and light and also shooting from a roadway.
NORTHEAST REGION
VOLUSIACOUNTY
Officer West was on patrol at night and observed a vehicle traveling through TigerBayStateForest. After stopping the vehicle to address state forest hour violations, Officer West observed blood and hair on their pants. Interviews were conducted on the two adult males; a subsequent inspection of the vehicle revealed a freshly killed antlered deer hidden in the truck bed. One of the men was issued two criminal notices to appear for taking a deer out of season and possession of a short antlered deer. Both subjects were issued non-criminal citations for being within the state forest at night. The deer and rifle were seized as evidence.
SOUTHWEST REGION
CHARLOTTE COUNTY
Lieutenant Ruggiero was on land patrol in the Webb WMA when he heard the sound of motors revving east of his location. He drove in the direction of the noise and observed two trucks mudding and damaging public lands. One of the trucks drove into a deep ditch and began spinning mud in the air before becoming stuck. Lieutenant Ruggiero stopped the trucks and when asked what they were doing, one of the men said, “They just wanted to get their trucks a little dirty.” Lieutenant Frantz and Officer Zampella arrived on scene to assist. Both men were issued misdemeanor citations for destruction to public lands. It was later determined the men had caused approximately $1,000 in damage to the property.
Officer Birchfield and K-9 Officer Stasko conducted a safety and resource inspection on a commercial vessel approximately 1/4 mile Gulf Side Boca Grande Island. Upon completion of the inspection, there were multiple safety violations and a quality control violation; some of the fish on board were not properly iced. When asked why the fish were not properly iced, the individual stated he ran out of ice and did not want to throw back any of the fish. The individual was escorted to the local fish house where the fish not safe for human consumption were sold off as bait. The individual received a notice to appear for insufficient ice (quality control) and three safety warnings: one navigation light violation, one insufficient number of personal flotation devices and one expired flairs.
PASCO COUNTY
Officers Balfour, Cocke and Williams responded to a report of lost hikers in the Cypress Creek Preserve. After a short search, the officers located the hikers, who were uninjured. The hikers were returned to their vehicle and they left the area.
POLK COUNTY
Officer Cloud was patrolling private property owned by Mosaic Mines in south PolkCounty and observed a vehicle trespassing. After a short pursuit, Officer Cloud was able to stop the vehicle and make contact with the driver. Two other subjects exited the passenger side and fled. The subjects were commercial fishing for tilapia and were in possession of approximately 200 pounds of fish. The subject was transported to the Polk County Jail and subsequently charged with felony trespass, petit theft and fleeing to elude.
COMMUNITY ORENTED POLICING
Officers Cloud and Travis gave a hunting safety education course to approximately forty-five hunters at the Hardee Correctional Institute in HardeeCounty. The group was educated on laws and regulations pertaining to hunting and hunting ethics. At the end of the course, both officers answered questions pertaining to the Florida Hunter’s Handbook.
SOUTH REGION A
BROWARD COUNTY
Officers Brock and Gamage responded to the New River in response to a call for assistance from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. The officers arrived on scene and spoke with FLPD officers. With information gathered, the officers conducted a boating under the influence investigation. Officer Brock placed one individual under arrest for boating under the influence. The individual was taken by water to the Broward jail without incident.
Officer Delatorre responded to car burglaries at Hugh Taylor Birch and JohnLloydState Parks. At each park, one vehicle was burglarized. There were no witnesses to the crimes and miscellaneous items were taken. The owners were given victim information brochures.
Officer Delatorre responded to JohnLloydState Park in reference to a criminal mischief complaint. The officer spoke to the assistant park manager and observed a Coca-Cola machine on its side at one of the restroom buildings. No witnesses were found and the park will repair the damage to the soda machine.
Officer Brock, Gamage, Investigators Warne, Rubio, Fowler, Lieutenants Harris and Ornold responded to investigate a report of a serious injury boating accident. It is reported at the time of the accident, one of three occupants was ejected from the vessel. The other two occupants were uninjured and retrieved the ejected/injured occupant out of the water. The vessel then proceeded to Oakland Park, Florida. The injured occupant was transported from that location to Broward GeneralHospital where he expired. The investigation is ongoing.
PALM BEACH COUNTY
Officer Trawinski and Lieutenant Laubenberger participated as Honor Guard Members in the honors funeral for Officer Alex of Palm Beach County School District Police. The funeral took place in Palm BeachGardens.
While on patrol at PhilFosterPark, Officer Mann observed a vessel returning from a fishing trip. Officer Mann made contact with the operator and asked if he had caught any fish that day. The operator advised that he had caught a few fish and proceeded to unload a cooler from the vessel. Upon inspection of the catch, Officer Mann found two undersized grey triggerfish and one gag grouper. Officer Mann explained to the vessel operator the size limit of the triggerfish and that the season is closed for gag grouper. The operator was cited accordingly and the illegal fish were seized as evidence.
OfficerChurch made contact with three individuals fishing in a pond in Delray Beach along the Turnpike. While conducting a fisheries inspection, one of the individuals was found to be in possession of 15 black bass, 10 over the legal limit. OfficerChurch explained the violation to the individual and issued a citation for possession of over the bag limit of black bass.
Officer Mann was conducting fisheries inspections at the Juno Pier. During the inspections one individual was found to be in possession of a bonefish. Officer Mann explained to the individual that possession of bonefish was illegal. The subject was issued a citation and the fish was seized as evidence.
SOUTH REGION B
COLLIER COUNTY
Officers Johnson and White responded to call regarding a black bear being hit by a vehicle on Tamiami Trail. Once on the scene, the officers determined that a black bear had indeed been hit by a CollierCountyEMS truck. The bear was not in a condition to be rehabilitated and had to be euthanized. The personnel from CollierCountyEMS were unharmed and upset regarding the accident.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
Officer Martin was on patrol when she noticed a vehicle underway at night without its headlamps on and operating in a unsafe manner. During the subsequent traffic stop, the strong scent of marijuana and alcohol were detected. The driver displayed signs of impairment, having slurred speech. The vehicle occupants told the officer there was marijuana in the vehicle and a thorough search revealed less than 20 grams of cannabis, a scale, a pipe with what appeared to be cannabis, several empty and cannabis residue baggies and cash. The driver was unable perform field sobriety tasks to standard and was subsequently arrested for DUI, possession of cannabis less than 20 grams, possession of paraphernalia and intent to sell.
Officer Sarmiento was patrolling at Haulover Boat Ramp at night when he observed a vessel operating with excessive wake and displaying no navigational lights approaching the boat ramp. Officer Sarmiento made contact with the vessel and conducted an inspection. While conducting the inspection, the officer noticed several triggerfish, which appeared to be undersized on the vessel transom. Officer Martir-Negron arrived to assist Officer Sarmiento and a full inspection revealed that all three subjects aboard had caught and kept 34 gray triggerfish, all of them undersized. Multiple violations were issued to the subjects for undersized and over-the-bag limit violations as well as infractions for boating safety violations and no fishing licenses.
FWC received a request from the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office to assist with an investigation on a stolen motor. A flats boat was stolen from Duck Key that ended up stripped and burned up in Fort Myers. Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Officers arrested two subjects for the theft. The victim later called the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office and informed officers that he had found the stolen motor for sale on Craigslist. After MDCSO and FWC arrived at the arranged buy, it was discovered that the motor was indeed the victim’s stolen property. The external serial number had been removed but the secondary serial number was located inside. Several other violations were discovered as well. FWC Investigator Taboas handled the arrest and is investigating this case. The subject was booked on 3 felonies and 4 misdemeanors: dealing in stolen property, use of internet to deal in stolen property, possession of altered property, use of two way device to commit a felony and failure to transfer vessel title (two counts).
Officer Sarmiento was patrolling at Matheson Hammock Boat Ramp at night when he observed a vessel without navigational lights pulling up to the ramp. Officer Sarmiento made contact with the operator. While conducting a boating safety inspection, the operator stated that he had several fish onboard, including a red grouper. When asked if he was aware that red grouper was now out of season, the operator stated that he had kept the red grouper on his vessel for the last three days after running a charter. Upon inspection of the grouper, it was obvious that the grouper had been freshly caught. A check through dispatch also revealed that the subject didn’t have a fishing charter license. The subject was cited for the boating safety violations and being in possession of red grouper out of season; he was also given a warning for chartering without a license.
MONROE COUNTY
Officer Plussa was conducting overnight patrol near the Bahia Honda Bridge in the Middle Keys. He positioned his patrol vehicle off of the road to survey an area of coastline where there had been complaints that people were poaching goliath grouper near the bridge. Because it was dark, he activated his rearward blue emergency lights before exiting his patrol truck. As he began to open his door, a car sped by at about 55-60 miles per hour, only a few feet from where Officer Plussa was getting out. The car was the only vehicle on the road in either southbound lane and failed to move over or slow down for the stopped law enforcement vehicle in accordance with state law. Officer Plussa conducted a traffic stop and the driver could not provide a vehicle registration or valid insurance card. A records check indicated that the vehicle’s registration had been expired for more than two years and the driver had a warrant for his arrest. The driver was charged accordingly for the warrant and cited for failing to move over for a stopped emergency vehicle, driving a vehicle with an expired registration and failure to carry auto insurance.
Officers Foell and Lopez conducted boating safety and resource inspections on multiple commercial lobster vessels returning to the dock to sell their catch at the fish house on StockIsland in the Lower Keys. As the vessels were offloading their spiny lobster to sell them, Officers Foell and Lopez inspected and measured the product. One of the commercial vessels possessed four undersized lobster onboard hidden in their catch. A second commercial vessel had ten undersized lobster onboard. The subjects were charged accordingly.
Officer Plussa was patrolling the Key Deer Speed Zone on Big Pine Key. The speed limit is 45 in the daytime and drops to 35 miles per hour after dark due to the increase in key deer activity, diminished visibility and the frequency of deer-vehicle accidents occurring at night. Officer Plussa issued a total of eighteen citations and multiple warnings to violators. Additionally, Officer Plussa worked with troopers from Florida Highway Patrol and deputies from Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to target drivers failing to slow down or move over while he was conducting the key deer traffic stops on the roadway at night. A total of five vehicles were cited for speeding over 55 miles per hour in the 35 mile per hour zone. During the last three month period, there have been dozens of key deer injury calls and deaths, resulting in vehicle accidents.
Officer Plussa conducted a vessel inspection at the 33rd Street Boat Ramp in Marathon. All four of the vessel’s occupants became incredibly nervous when Officer Plussa greeted them. The operator stated they had caught no fish whatsoever. An inspection of their coolers revealed dozens of mackerel, snapper and grunts. Officer Plussa inquired as to why they denied catching the fish, to which they could not explain. Another occupant stated that all of the snapper were lane snapper and were “all good.” Officer Plussa observed the inconsistencies with their uncomfortable body language and their verbal exchange. A more detailed inspection of the cooler’s contents revealed several barely legal fish. A thorough inspection of the vessel revealed a hidden compartment that had a separate bag of undersized mutton snapper, separate from the rest of the catch. The operator and two other occupants received multiple charges for possession of undersized mutton snapper, interference with a FWC Officer, no fishing license and vessel registration violations.
COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING
Officers Ingellis, Martir, Mert, Washington and Carper participated in the AventuraCharterSchool “Career Day.” More than 400 students were instructed on FWC’s mission, officer duties and its wildlife. Two alligators, a ball python and a K-9 demonstration were used for presentation.
South Region “B” hosted the 2016 Invasive Species / Python Challenge kick-off event at FloridaInternationalUniversity. Several officers from all three counties participated in the event. FWC Commissioners and staff spoke at the event educating and teaching awareness on the invasive species issues in Florida.
Officer Dube assisted Tallahassee staff from community relations and habitat and species conservation sections along with Commissioner “Alligator” Ron Bergeron with the Python Challenge in DadeCounty. The FWC kicked off the challenge with a media event in the Francis Taylor Management Area. FWC staff also escorted media out on a “Python Patrol” after the event to kick off the hunt.
Captain Dipre organized a community meeting with members of the BootKeyHarbor live-aboard community, Marathon City Marina, City of Marathon personnel, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, FWC Lieutenant Robison, Investigator Cox and Officer Plussa, who are assigned to patrol and respond to the Marathon and BootKeyHarbor areas. They explained the patrol philosophy, goals and expectations for the officers and the community. Captain Dipre discussed various boating safety and registration regulations, the importance of compliance and provided various points of contact for different matters residents of the harbor may face. Officer Plussa discussed what to expect from officers if stopped, actions boat owners and operators can take beforehand to enable the stop to go as efficiently as possible and what officers are looking for. Other matters discussed included the adaptation of different tactics law enforcement take in response to the emerging threats law enforcement officers face, what to look for and how to report
suspicious activity in the harbor and other matters of boating and public safety. Multiple scenarios were explained and attendees were provided an open forum to ask hypothetical and specific questions to all in attendance. After the meeting, coordinating staff stayed behind to answer individual questions from concerned attendees. Approximately 75 residents attended the meeting.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: FWC Division of Law Enforcement Weekly Report