FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Reports for April 7-13

April 7 through April 13, 2023

This report represents some events the FWC handled over specified weeks; 
however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement.

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View previous editions.

CASES

Bay County

• Officers Jarrell, Brady, and Rice were on patrol in St. Andrews Bay and stopped a charter boat to conduct a fisheries inspection. Officer Jarrell located an undersized triggerfish in the fish box. The captain was charged previously for the same violation. Officer Jarrell issued the captain a notice to appear for the violation.

Santa Rosa County

• Officer Bower received a complaint about an illegal species of fish being advertised for sale on social media. An inspection revealed invasive lionfish were being transported from California into Florida and sold to the public. It is illegal to possess and sell an invasive species imported from another state. Live coral was also found on the premises without proper documentation. The store owner was issued a notice to appear citation for importation and sale of lionfish.
• Officer Bower was conducting resource inspections in the Santa Rosa Sound and observed two subjects fishing from the shore. Both subjects had valid fishing licenses. Officer Bower observed a line in the water tied to a rock, and asked the subjects if they had any luck catching any fish. The subjects explained they were catching spotted sea trout and showed the officer the fish. The trout were under the legal-size limit. One of the subjects admitted to harvesting the undersized spotted sea trout and was issued a notice to appear citation.

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

Okaloosa County

• Lieutenant Molnar, Investigator Armstrong, Officer Nichols and Officer Mursch provided boating safety information to Destin High School students over the course of a week. The officers covered topics such as required safety gear, basic U.S. Coast Guard navigational rules, vessel nomenclature, boating under the influence, personal watercraft operation, local waterways, Chapter 327 Florida Statutes and more. On the last day, the students took the test required to receive a Florida Boating Safety ID Card.

OFFSHORE PATROL

• Officers Nelson and Hartzog were conducting resource inspections on commercial king mackerel vessels at a known fish house. Officer Nelson boarded a vessel to conduct a fisheries and safety inspection. During the inspection, Officer Nelson located a bag of unknown fillets. After speaking with the captain, the fillets were identified as gag grouper and red snapper. Both species are currently closed for harvest in the Gulf of Mexico. The appropriate citations were issued.
• Officer Nelson conducted a fisheries inspection of a commercial reef fishing vessel while the vessel was offloading their catch. During the inspection, the officer discovered the occupants of the vessel were in possession of 22 gray triggerfish. The commercial trip limit for gray triggerfish is currently 16 fish per trip. The officer took appropriate action to address the violation.

CASES

Brevard County

• Officer Specialist Balgo observed an individual in Port Canaveral cast net a snook and throw it into the rocks. Officer Balgo located the snook, which was undersized and illegally harvested by cast net. The individual was cited accordingly.
• Officer Specialist Balgo observed an individual fishing near S.R. 520 and the Banana River. He conducted a resource inspection and found a bucket containing several undersized spotted seatrout and sheepshead. The individual was cited accordingly.
• While on night patrol, Officer Specialist Rasey was conducting resource inspections on a pier where people reported poaching activities. The officer discovered an individual with a bag of small fish, and inside was an undersized spotted seatrout. The subject was given a saltwater regulation guide for future reference and a citation.

Indian River County

• Officer Hopkins was on patrol at Sebastian Inlet State Park conducting resource inspections when he found a cooler without a nearby owner. After asking around, Officer Hopkins identified the owner of the cooler and conducted a resource inspection. Inside the cooler Officer Hopkins found an over-slot snook. The subject was cited accordingly.
• While on patrol at Sebastian Inlet State Park, Officer St. Martin noticed a vessel operator returning to the boat ramp had difficulty docking his vessel. After 15 minutes and numerous attempts, the operator was able to tie off to the dock. While speaking with the operator, Officer St. Martin noticed signs of impairment. The operator performed poorly during standardized field sobriety tasks and was arrested for boating under the influence. The operator provided a breath sample, which showed the alcohol concentration to be almost double the legal limit.

Lake County

• FWC Officers Stamp, Self, Wild and Christmas, along with Lieutenant Chase and Clermont Police Water Units worked together on a targeted boating safety enforcement along the Clermont Chain of Lakes. During the one-day enforcement action, officers checked 45 users, issuing six uniform boating citations and six warnings for various safety violations such as no fire extinguisher, no personal flotation devices, no throwable flotation device, no dealer registration displayed and no registration on board. Through the user contacts and the officer’s investigations, two operators were arrested for boating under the influence.   

Seminole County

• While patrolling the St. Johns River, Officers Navarino and Fahnestock observed individuals cast netting. A resource inspection was conducted, and it was revealed the group of eight people had 400 mussels in their possession. The daily bag limit is 10 per person. The individuals were also without a valid Florida freshwater fishing license. The officers cited the individuals accordingly. The officers then encountered a second group of individuals cast netting. A resource inspection was conducted, and it was revealed they were in possession of gamefish. The individuals were cited accordingly.

Volusia County

• K-9 Senior Officer North and Officer Quick were patrolling an area with known bait sites when they observed a subject turkey hunting within 100 yards of a feeding station. The subject was using a turkey call and admitted to the violation. The subject was charged appropriately.

St. Johns County

• While conducting surveillance from a concealed location, Officers Thomas and Lawrence observed a subject catch over the bag limit of Atlantic spot. The officers observed the subject conceal the fish inside a nearby vehicle. Upon inspection, the subject produced one bucket of spot and stated that was all he harvested. Upon inspection of the subject’s vehicle, additional fish were located. The subject was cited accordingly.

Putnam County

• FWC officers responded to a call referencing a possible suicidal subject making bomb threats at the Rodman Dam. FWC officers evacuated citizens from the area and secured the scene pending the arrival of Putnam County Sheriff’s Office SWAT. The subject claimed to have a bomb in his backpack and remained uncooperative throughout the night. At around 2:30 a.m., the subject began responding to directions, and negotiators got him to distance himself from the backpack. The subject was taken into custody. The St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad found no explosive material in the backpack.

RESCUE

Sumter County

• Sumter County Sheriff’s Office contacted the FWC when 911 received a call about a person stuck at Richloam Wildlife Management Area. The caller stated he had ventured away from his vehicle and was lost. Officer Stamp responded and was able to locate the subject in good health. 

CASES

Charlotte County

• Officer Devine and Officer Blyar were on water patrol in Alligator creek. They conducted a fisheries inspection and found a subject to be in possession of three undersized spotted seatrout. Officer Devine charged the subject of being in possession of undersized spotted seatrout.

Hillsborough County

• While on land patrol, Officer Specialist Rorer observed a bird cage on the side of a residence that contained what appeared to be a federally protected migratory bird. She contacted the homeowner and was given permission to enter the residence to inspect the bird cage and found the bird inside the cage was a federally protected painted bunting. The homeowner advised the bird belonged to a friend and provided their contact information. Officer Specialist Rorer contacted the owner of the bird who admitted the painted bunting was theirs. She issued the individual a citation for possession of a federally protected migratory bird and the painted bunting was released back to the wild.

Lee County

• Officer Hardgrove was on land patrol when he observed a subject he had inspected in the past and was believed to be violating fishing regulations. The subject and two other men were heading out late in the afternoon, so he decided to check back later. Officer Hardgrove conducted a fisheries inspection when they returned and found they were in possession of a large quantity of fish including mangrove snapper, vermillion snapper, gray triggerfish, and numerous other fish. The triggerfish were undersized and they were over the bag limit on mangrove snapper and vermillion snapper. The subjects were issued citations for the violations. 

Pinellas County

• Lieutenant Bibeau observed an individual wade fishing and contacted him to conduct a fisheries inspection once he reached the shoreline. At the conclusion of the inspection, he found the individual to be in possession of five trout, two of which were undersized and issued the individual a citation for being over the daily bag limit of trout and a warning for possession of undersized trout. 
• While on land patrol, Lieutenant Bibeau observed a commercial charter vessel return to a nearby dock. He contacted the captain of the vessel as they were dropping off their customers and conducted a fisheries inspection. The captain advised they had caught Spanish mackerel, and placed the fish in a hatch on the vessel. Lieutenant Bibeau boarded the vessel and located two large plastic bags filled with mackerel fillets along with 15 Spanish mackerel still in whole condition. Lieutenant Bibeau issued the captain of the vessel a misdemeanor citation for failing to land Spanish mackerel in whole condition.

Sarasota County

• Officer Blyar was on uniformed water patrol in New Pass Inlet and observed a man fishing the pass from a dock. He asked if he caught any fish and the subject indicated he had caught some small ones. Officer Blyar asked him if he knew the gray snapper regulations and the subject said they were supposed to be 10 inches. The officer measured the gray snapper and three of the four were under 10 inches. Officer Blyar charged the subject with being in possession of an undersized gray snapper.
• Officer Blyar was on uniformed water patrol in New Pass Inlet and observed a vessel with multiple fishing rods coming into the inlet. He asked the operator of the vessel if he had any fish onboard and the operator indicted he had one. During the inspection, Officer Blyar found one undersized, out of season gag grouper. The subject was written a citation for being in possession of gag grouper out of season.
• Officer Specialist Morrison and Officer Blyar were on uniformed water patrol around New Pass Inlet. A vessel was fishing some docks in the area. Officer Specialist Morrison conducted a resource check on the vessel and found the captain had caught and kept an undersized cobia. The captain of the vessel was cited accordingly.

CASES 

Broward County

• Officer Constance was dispatched to the Markham Park boat ramp in Sunrise regarding a boating accident with injuries. The officer arrived at the boat ramp and gathered information. Officer Lopez responded to Broward General Hospital and spoke to an individual who indicated he was injured while operating a personal watercraft. The officer is conducting a boating accident investigation. 
• Officers Constance and Lopez and Lt. Laubenberger responded to a boat ramp located on Alligator Alley regarding individuals attempting to catch small alligators. With information gathered and additional information from a Broward County Deputy Sheriff, two individuals were given notices to appear for various charges to include possession of American alligator out of season.
• While on patrol at the Hillsboro Inlet, Officers Olivera and Giani observed a vessel coming in from offshore with fishing equipment on board. Officers Olivera and Giani stopped the vessel to conduct a resource inspection and observed a sailfish with the head, tail and fins cut off.  The subject on board the vessel who caught the fish was issued a citation for not landing the sailfish in whole condition. 
• Officer Bruder and Officer Dudas were on vessel patrol when they conducted a resource inspection of a vessel returning to Port Everglades Inlet with multiple fishing rods. Officer Bruder observed several undersize fish. The operator of the vessel was cited for possession of undersize mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper and gray triggerfish.
• Officer Bruder and Officer Dudas were on water patrol when they observed a vessel with multiple fishing rods pulling into Mizell Johnson Boat Ramp. The vessel captain told Officer Dudas he had caught a few fish. During the inspection, Officer Dudas found a violation and the captain was cited for scrawled filefish violations.
• Officer Dudas and Officer Sellers were on patrol driving down U.S. 27 and noticed several people fishing at a pump structure. Officer Dudas noticed a man running away from the structure with several peacock bass in his hands. Officer Dudas caught up with the subject and saw a pile of peacock bass on the ground. The subject said he caught all seven of the peacock bass in his possession. He was cited for over the bag limit of peacock bass.

 Hendry County

• Senior Officer Polly received a call from a ranch manager stating he and other witnesses observed a subject shooting a firearm from a roadway. Senior Officer Polly was off duty at the time and several hours away, so the information was relayed to Officer Pridgen, who lives close to where the incident took place. Officer Pridgen located the vehicle based on the description given. While conducting an inspection, he located several rifles inside the vehicle as well as spent shell casings. The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office assisted as well. Officer Specialist Wagner, along with K-9 Susan responded to the area to locate any harvested animals but none were found. The subject made a comment about shooting wild hogs. The subject was placed under arrest by the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office for drug possession. Charges related to hunting from a roadway are being filed with the state attorney’s office.

Martin County

• Officer Pecko was on patrol along the Okeechobee Waterway when he observed two subjects cast netting. A resource inspection was conducted, and a tarpon was found in the cooler. The tarpon had marks and was missing scales consistent with being cast netted. Misdemeanors and warnings were issued accordingly.
• Officers Hudson and Pecko were conducting a robotics decoy operation over the weekend. During their detail, four individuals were cited for taking wildlife in a closed area.

Palm Beach County

• Officer Wences was conducting land patrol in Belle Glade when he received a call from U.S. Sugar security about two subjects trespassing on their property. When Officer Wences arrived on scene, the two subjects and their vehicle were found on U.S. Sugar property. The subjects did not have permission from the landowner to be in the area. Citations were issued accordingly.   
• Officer Stiltner, Officer Morgan and Lieutenant Kleis were on water patrol at Peanut Island Sunday for the Floatopia event. The officers observed a personal watercraft in motion with an individual doing donuts, improperly wearing his personal flotation device and improperly displaying his PWC registration numbers. Upon conducting a vessel stop, multiple indicators of impairment were observed. The subject performed poorly on the standardized field sobriety tasks and was placed under arrest for boating under the influence. The subject received citations for insufficient PFD, having no registration on board, improper display of vessel registration numbers and no wake zone violation.
• Lt. Kleis and Officers Rea and Morgan were on vessel patrol during the Floatopia event at Peanut Island when they observed a subject on a jet ski violating the slow speed zone. When the stop was conducted, a strong odor of alcohol could be smelled on the operator. He was also observed to have glassy, blood shot eyes, poor coordination, and slow speech. Officer Rea ran the subject through standardized field sobriety tasks and concluded the subject was impaired and placed him under arrest. The subject was cited accordingly.

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

Broward County

• Investigator Teems and Lieutenant Laubenberger attended the Honor Flight at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. A charter flight of 75 WW II, Vietnam and Korean War veterans returned from their sponsored trip to Washington, D.C. The officers, part of the Broward Police Multi-Agency Honor Guard, led the parade of wheelchair bound veterans through the terminal. The crowd of well-wishers numbered over 900 people.

Glades County

• Lieutenant Kleis, Lieutenant Fugate, along with Senior Officer Polly, Officer Pridgen, Officer Naules, Officer Watson, and Officer Wences attended the Lykes Brothers annual end-of-hunting-season event. Over 100 lease members and family members along with Lykes Brothers Ranch employees were in attendance. The officers were able to network and meet with several members, and discuss any issues they were having and offer their help in the future.

CASES

Monroe County

• Investigator Chris Mattson was on unmarked federal water patrol near Conch Reef and observed a vessel trolling in the Sanctuary Preservation Area, which is legal, however Investigator Mattson observed the men catch a large barracuda and keep the fish. At this time, Investigator Mattson stopped the vessel to perform a resource inspection. Two men were issued federal citations for fishing in the SPA.
• Investigator Mattson was patrolling Conch Reef Sanctuary Preservation Area and observed a 34-foot vessel tie up to a SPA white buoy that is designated “No Fishing.” Investigator Mattson watched the men from a distance as they put out a chum bag and begin to catch and keep bait fish from the SPA. Investigator Mattson came up and identified himself as FWC law Enforcement and stated the reason for the stop. He asked the vessel operator if he had a bait fishing permit and the vessel operator stated he did not. The vessel operator was issued a federal citation for fishing in the SPA.
• Investigator Mattson observed a Florida registered vessel inside the Conch Reef Research only area. The boat was tied off to a yellow buoy stating “Keep Off” in contrasting red letters. The boat was displaying a dive flag and had divers underwater near the Aquarius habitat. Investigator Mattson waited for the divers to surface and then went to talk to the people onboard. The vessel operator stated he had seen a dive boat and divers at the Conch Reef Research only area the day prior. However, the dive boat was the authorized Florida International University research team. The vessel operator was issued a federal citation for diving in the research area only.