September 22 through September 28, 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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CASES

Citrus County

• Officer Specialist Sarmiento was on water patrol in Crystal River when he initiated a stop on a vessel with fishing rods and other fishing gear to conduct a fisheries resource inspection. During the inspection, Officer Specialist Sarmiento located four undersized spotted seatrout in a bucket onboard the vessel. An occupant of the vessel stated he was responsible for the undersized fish and was cited accordingly. 

Dixie County

• Members of FWC’s North Central Region dive team assisted the Dixie County Sheriff’s Office with a death investigation at a boat ramp in Steinhatchee. During hurricane cleanup, crews recovered parts of a car near the end of a boat ramp. The dive team located and removed the vehicle and human remains connected to an Alabama man who went missing in 1995 while visiting the area. This provide closure to the family who had no information for the past 28 years about their loved one. 

Suwannee County

• Officer Cline responded to a traffic stop conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services where a deceased alligator was observed in the bed of a utility task vehicle. Officer Cline spoke with the two occupants of the vehicle who told him the alligator was already dead when they put it in the back of the utility task vehicle. The officer noted there was blunt force trauma to the head of the alligator. Further inspection revealed a hammer on the utility task vehicle that contained blood. Appropriate citations were issued for the violation.

CASES

Brevard County

• While assisting the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office with a trespassing complaint on the Cape Canaveral Locks, Officer Specialist Hallsten and Officer Osborn located and approached two subjects. A resource inspection was conducted, and the two subjects were found to be in possession of four redfish (a violation within the Indian River Lagoon Region catch and release only area) and one oversized snook. One subject was arrested and both subjects were trespassed from all of Port Canaveral by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Indian River County

• Officer Rivard and Officer Specialist Marroquin were conducting resource inspections on the State Road 60 fishing pier when they discovered two individuals fishing without a license. After checking with FWC Dispatch, Officer Rivard was made aware one subject was wanted on an outstanding warrant for trafficking fentanyl. Officer Rivard also found the subject was in possession of nine undersized mangrove snapper. The subject was taken into custody and charged accordingly. 

Orange County

• Officer Navarino was patrolling the St. Johns River when he observed a vessel returning to the Highway 50 boat ramp. Officer Navarino conducted a resource inspection on the individuals. The individuals were alligator hunting in the Puzzle Lake Alligator Management Unit without the proper permit. The individuals first stated they were hunting with a friend who had the tags but could not provide any information on the individual. The individuals eventually admitted there was no other friend, and they were hunting without the proper permit. They were cited accordingly. 

Osceola County

• Officer Nall was on patrol when he received information that ATVs and dirt bikes were entering a local wildlife management area illegally and causing damage. Southwest Region Officers Mitchell and Klipin were called to assist. The subjects were found entering at an undesignated access point, operating motorized vehicles within the WMA (prohibited), and destroying state lands. All were issued mandatory notices to appear and infraction citations.

Lake County

• Officer Stamp received information about a subject in possession of a gopher tortoise at their residence. Upon arriving at the residence, the officer located the subject in question and inquired about the gopher tortoise. The subject admitted to having a gopher tortoise in a bucket and stated they got it from down the road and planned to keep it as a pet. Officer Stamp informed the subject it was illegal to be in possession of the tortoise. Officer Stamp instructed the subject to remain where they were while he completed the remainder of his investigation. The subject failed to comply and left the area. Officer Stamp located the subject at a nearby convenience store and placed them under arrest. While searching the subject, Officer Stamp located a bag containing cannabis. The subject was booked into the Lake County Jail on charges of possession of a gopher tortoise, resisting arrest without violence, and possession of cannabis less than 20 grams. 

Volusia County

• Officer Quick received information about a possible baited field in one of the local wildlife management areas. Officer Quick, Officer Drake, and Senior K-9 Officer North responded to the area and with the assistance of FWC K-9 Maggie, the officers located two subjects hunting over bait in two separate locations. Both subjects were charged appropriately. 
• Officer Cornell and Senior Officer Wingard responded to a local state park in reference to a complaint about subjects illegally entering and exiting the park. The officers located a vehicle and two subjects. After investigating, the officers discovered the subjects were also illegally cutting and harvesting commercially exploited plant life from the state park lands. Both subjects were charged appropriately. 
• Lieutenant Edson was patrolling a wildlife management area during the archery hunting season when he conducted a resource inspection on two subjects. Both subjects were hunting and an investigation revealed one of the subjects was attempting to take deer by illegal method, using a gun other than a bow and arrow. The subject was charged appropriately.

St. Johns County

• Senior Officer Thomas received a tip regarding red drum bag limit violations posted on a social media page. Officer Thomas along with Officer Specialist Lawrence and Officer Aultman began an investigation into the involved parties’ social media accounts. After compiling evidence and subsequent interviews, both suspects admitted to the violations. Three misdemeanor citations for red drum bag limit violations and one misdemeanor violation for removing a tarpon over 40 inches from the water were filed with the State Attorney’s Office. 
• Senior Officer Thomas, Officer Specialist Harris and Officers Lemaster and Aultman worked at Guana Dam State Park in response to reported cast netting violations. One subject was observed cast netting finfish within 50 yards of the dam. Officer Aultman issued the subject one citation for cast netting within 50 yards of the dam and one citation for cast netting finfish on Lake Ponta Vedra.

CASES

Hillsborough County

• While patrolling along the Courtney Campbell Causeway, Officer McCormack and Officer Georgevich conducted a vessel stop on a personal watercraft operating on plane in the posted idle speed zone for the boat ramp. During the vessel stop, Officer McCormack observed signs of impairment from the operator and commenced a boating under the influence investigation. At the completion of the investigation, the operator was arrested for BUI. 

Lee County

• Officer Arbogast responded to a report of someone possibly keeping a gopher tortoise as a pet. Upon arrival, Officer Arbogast located a clear plastic container outside the house with a gopher tortoise inside. There was a metal grate sealing the top and no source of shade for the animal. The subject confirmed he was aware he was in possession of a gopher tortoise without a permit. Officer Arbogast charged the subject accordingly and released the gopher tortoise into a local state park.
• Officer Arbogast located a new, large generator and tailer hid in the brush and covered with tarps within Estero Bay Preserve State Park. Officer Arbogast found a sticker on the generator with the dealer’s contact information. The officer contacted the dealer who provided the owner’s information. Officer Arbogast was able to reunite the equipment with its proper owner. The owner, a contracting company, recently reported it stolen after it was taken from a job site and was thankful for its return.

Pasco County

• While on water patrol, Officers Criswell and Ferguson observed a derelict vessel just south of the Anclote River channel. At the time, no one was on board the vessel. Officer Criswell contacted the registered owner who had sold the vessel in 2022. Officers Criswell, Hughes, and Ferguson were able to contact the responsible party of the derelict vessel. The responsible party was notified of the derelict vessel and the appropriate citations were issued. 
• Senior Officer Pulaski assisted the Pasco County Staff Officer and United States Coast Guard with a vessel they observed strike a day marker. They escorted the vessel to the dock while it was taking on water. Senior Officer Pulaski contacted the operator and noticed indicators of impairment. The subject complied with a request to perform standardized field sobriety tasks. He performed poorly and was subsequently arrested for boating under the influence. The subject refused to provide a sample of his breath to determine its alcohol content. The subject was charged by the USCG for negligent operation of a vessel and an insufficient number of personal flotation devices.  The subject was charged with boating under the influence with normal faculties impaired beyond the normal safe operation of a vessel and refusal to submit to a test of his breath. Senior Officer Pulaski transported the defendant to the Land O’ Lakes Jail. 

Pinellas County

• While on land patrol, Officers Criswell and Ferguson were notified of construction and land clearing on a property with known gopher tortoises in Tarpon Springs. Officer Criswell contacted the FWC Gopher Tortoise Regional Coordinator. The officers also contacted the property owners and the gopher tortoise authorized agent. Through their investigation, the officers determined the ongoing construction and land clearing was in violation of the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Permit conditions. The property owners and the authorized agent were issued the appropriate citations. 
• In March of 2023, Officer Criswell was notified of two car burglaries that occurred at Honeymoon Island State Park. Both complainants had credit cards that were stolen and used to purchase items at an Apple Store. Officer Criswell contacted security at the Apple Store and the International Plaza. From the security video, she was able to identify one of the suspects using the stolen credit cards. FWC Intel created a bulletin to identify the unknown suspects involved using the stolen credit cards. In September 2023, Officer Criswell received a regional bulletin referencing car burglaries like her case and she shared the updated bulletin with regional agencies. From the updated bulletin FWC Intel had created, the identified suspect was apprehended in St. Johns County. The identified suspect was arrested for car burglaries and credit card thefts that occurred in St. Johns, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties and is facing multiple felony charges. 
• Officer Georgevich saw a vehicle in the parking area of Southwest Florida Water Management District land at midnight. Water management district land is closed at night. Officer Georgevich parked his vehicle in a concealed location and patrolled the area on foot. In doing so, he observed two individuals shining a light into the wooded area along the trail. Officer Georgevich saw two subjects wearing hunting clothes on the state property. One of the subjects was in possession of a pellet gun style rifle. The officer stopped the subjects to initiate a resource inspection and uncovered three illegally harvested cottontail rabbits from the state-owned property. The subjects were cited with multiple water management district charges as well for using artificial light to kill game animals and night hunting.
• Officer Georgevich observed a kayak with one occupant and multiple fishing rods pull up to the Dunedin Causeway. Officer Georgevich conducted a resource inspection and uncovered two redfish and one spotted sea trout. The subject admitted to harvesting both redfish. The bag limit for redfish is one per day. The subject was cited accordingly.
• Officer Specialist Godfrey was on land patrol waiting for an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) federally permitted vessel to land at its intended landing location. The vessel was scheduled to arrive at a particular time but changed the landing time and location. The updated landing notification was in violation of the three-hour rule. Officer Specialist Godfrey responded to the new location and observed the vessel docked behind a home in Maderia Beach. Contact was made with the vessel captain who advised they changed the location because they were not going to be offloading product until the following day and were worried about possible theft. The captain was informed of the landing notification violations and cited with a criminal citation for failure to provide proper landing notification consistent with the federal standard. The captain was also issued a total of six written warnings for other landing notification violations as well as failure to have the saltwater products license on board and other SPL violations. 

CASES

Broward County

• Officers Giani and Bovee were on patrol in Dania Beach. They observed a vehicle being driven on a blown front tire, throwing sparks over the hood of the car. The officers attempted to stop the vehicle for several miles before it pulled into a parking lot and came to a stop. While the officers approached the vehicle on foot, the operator looked at them and then drove back onto the main road. After briefly fleeing again, the driver stopped in the middle of the road. The officers removed the driver, conducted standardized field sobriety tasks and placed the subject under arrest for driving under the influence, and fleeing/attempting to elude law enforcement. 

Hendry County

• Officer Naules was on patrol when he observed a vehicle parked off the roadway in front of a gate leading to private property. Officer Naules stopped to investigate and heard gunshots coming from the property. He located two subjects on the property who were each discharging a rifle. Officer Naules detained and questioned the subjects, who admitted they did not have permission to be on the property. The property managers stated they wanted to press charges against the subjects. The subjects were placed under arrest for trespass while armed with a firearm. 

Martin County

• On the opening weekend of dove season, a detail was conducted to check dove hunters on private and wildlife management area dove fields in Okeechobee, Glades, Hendry, Saint Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties.  Officers checked 329 users resulting in six misdemeanor citations, one infraction citation, and 48 warnings. The violations included taking doves with unplugged shotguns, taking protected birds (ground doves), and various license violations.
• Officer Landers was working surveillance at the Jensen Beach Causeway watching an individual in the water wearing a mask. He saw the man in the water hand something to another individual standing nearby, who put the object in the bed of a truck. Officer Landers approached the individual near the truck who showed him a live undersized spiny lobster in a bucket in the bed of the truck. Officer Landers called the other individual out of the water and issued him a misdemeanor citation for the undersized lobster. 
• Officers Koger, Moss and Godward were patrolling the area of the Oculina Bank, approximately 23 miles offshore when they observed individuals bottom fishing. The officers initiated a vessel stop to conduct a fisheries inspection. Officer Koger located an amberjack and scamp grouper. The vessel was outfitted with several fishing rods rigged for bottom fishing with additional weights around the vessel. Officer Koger explained to the subjects that it is illegal to be in be possession of snapper/grouper species within the Oculina Bank area. Each subject was issued a citation for the violation. In addition, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agents also will review the case.
• Officer Reinhardt was on marked vessel patrol in the Intercoastal Waterway south of Peck’s Lake when he observed a vessel violating the posted slow speed zone. Officer Reinhardt initiated a vessel stop and immediately detected numerous indicators of impairment.  After performing poorly on seated standardized field sobriety tasks, the operator was placed under arrest for suspicion of boating under the influence and transported to the Martin County Jail. The operator refused to provide a breath sample and was charged with BUI, refusal to submit to a breath test, violation of the slow speed zone and no Type IV throwable device.

Palm Beach County

• Senior Officer Polly responded to a complaint regarding multiple subjects killing an antlerless deer at Dinner Island Wildlife Management Area. The subjects left the area prior to Senior Officer Polly’s arrival, however, he obtained photos and vehicle descriptions from the witness. Local law enforcement partner agencies were notified and asked to attempt to locate the vehicle. A short time later, the FWC was notified that deputies from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office located and stopped the vehicle and the deputy stated there was blood in the bed of the truck. Senior Officer Polly, Officer Wences, and Officer Constance arrived to investigate, and they located two deer in the truck that were recently field dressed. It was determined the deer were killed with a firearm with an illegal magazine capacity and full metal jacket ammunition. The subjects were placed under arrest and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. They were each charged with multiple violations to include possession of deer without evidence of sex, illegal magazine capacity, illegal ammunition, possession of an antlerless deer out of season. Each subject also was issued several citations including but not limited to hunting license violations and failing to log and report a deer harvest. 

Lucie County

• While on foot patrol at Jetty Park, Officer Castle responded to a complaint of a subject harvesting undersized lane and mutton snapper. Officer Castle conducted a resource inspection and found several snapper species and all were undersized. The subject was cited for the violations. 
• Officer Barghouty was on foot patrol at the south bridge observation platform, when he contacted a subject who was fishing. An inspection was conducted and the subject was found to be in possession of over the bag limit of mangrove snapper, undersize mangrove snapper and undersize lane snapper.  The subject was cited for the violations.
• While on foot patrol at a local boat ramp, Officer Jenkins and Officer Payne observed two subjects cleaning fish at the cleaning station. The fish being cleaned were small, and when the subjects were asked what type of fish they were cleaning, they responded lane snapper.  A closer inspection of the fish and several others in a cooler, revealed nine undersized mutton snapper. The subjects were educated on proper fish identification and were issued a citation for the violation observed.
• Officer Jenkins and Officer Bingham were on vessel patrol in the Fort Pierce Inlet, when they observed a subject operating a personal watercraft violating the posted slow speed manatee zone. The officers conducted a vessel stop and discovered the operator was renting the craft.  When asked if he had received any pre-ride instructions, he replied he had not. The officers visited the location where the PWC was rented. Further investigation revealed the proper livery insurance was not obtained for the business. The company owner was cited for the livery violation and the vessel operator received a warning for the speeding violation.

CASES

Monroe County

Officers Allen and Turner were on water patrol in a marked patrol vessel in the vicinity of Boca Chica where they observed an individual diving on the south side of the bridge. As the officers approached the individual to conduct a resource inspection, they observed him holding a lobster. As the subject began to swim toward the patrol vessel, the officers observed him shaking his shirt, releasing several speared mangrove snapper back into the water. Officer Allen quickly began diving to recover the evidence. Officer Sturgeon and Officer Piekenbrock arrived and began to conduct a thorough search and they found five spiny Lobster tails concealed in his clothing. The subject was found to possess mangrove snapper (two undersized, seven over the bag) and seven spiny lobster (one over the bag and five undersized wrung tails). The subject also was charged with interference with an FWC Officer for dumping and attempting to conceal evidence. He was transported to Stock Island Jail.

• Officer Sturgeon saw two adults and two youth fishing at the Little Duck Key boat ramp and observed them while they transferred fish from a five-gallon bucket into a grocery bag. When questioned, both adult subjects indicated they did not have any fish. A marine fisheries inspection revealed nine undersized mangrove snapper inside the cooler in their vehicle.
• Investigator Chris Mattson was in plain clothes and on unmarked state water patrol when he observed two subjects spearfishing. They were one mile inside the 3-nautical-mile line off Rodriguez Key. This area of the Upper Keys is closed to spearfishing. Investigator Mattson identified himself and asked if the subjects had any fish. The stated they had fish. Both subjects had speared an undersized hogfish measuring less than the 16” minimum fork length limit. They were cited for spearfishing Upper Keys and possession of undersize hogfish.
• Investigator Chris Mattson, working on a tip from Officer Venus Garcia, secured an active warrant for a subject who posted content to social media indicating violations related to tarpon. A video on his YouTube channel shows the subject catch a small tarpon near Lower Matecumbe, remove it from the water and discard it onto the land. He was charged with the following violations: (1) Person may not harvest or destroy tarpon within or without Florida waters, (2)a recreational harvester may not possess a tarpon within or without Florida waters, (3) harvest a tarpon without a tag and (4) recreational harvester must release tarpon in the immediate area where it was caught.

Collier County

• Officer Specialist Chris Araujo was patrolling the area of Everglades City when he observed three subjects fishing under the Plantation Island Bridge. Upon inspection, he found a bucket next to one of the subjects that contained whole dead stone crabs and mud crabs. Stone Crabs are not currently in season and cannot be harvested whole. In addition, the claws of the crabs were undersized and one of the female stone crab was bearing eggs, which is also a violation to possess. Further inspection of the subject’s fishing gear revealed he was using the crabs to bait his hook. The subject was written seven stone crab violations and must appear in court for the charges. 
• Officer Tajahs Jackson was on land patrol in Naples when he observed a vehicle driving carelessly. Subsequent traffic stop and investigation revealed the subject was driving on a suspended driver’s license and without insurance. The subject was issued a notice to appear for driving while license suspended with knowledge.  

Miami-Dade County

• Captive Wildlife Investigator Fernandez responded to a possible illegal possession of a raccoon. An applicant submitted paperwork requesting a license for a raccoon and stated the raccoon was obtained from the wild, which is illegal. The subject stated he found an orphaned raccoon and brought it home. He took the raccoon to a veterinarian who informed the subject he needed a license for it. Investigator Fernandez explained the raccoon could not come from the wild. The subject turned the animal over to the FWC and it was placed at a rehabilitation facility for eventual reintroduction to the wild. Three warnings were issued for theillegal possession and related violations.  

FWC Division of Law Enforcement Regions