FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Reports: Jan. 12-18

January 12, 2024 through January 18, 2024

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

• Senior Officer N. Basford has been investigating the destruction of multiple gopher tortoise burrows at a construction site. After collecting permits, documenting evidence, and speaking with the state attorney’s office, the officer is charging the owner of the construction company with attempting to take a threatened species. The tortoises will be captured and relocated to an authorized agent. 
• Lieutenant J. Allen was patrolling the St Andrews State Park area after closing time. He noticed a couple of vehicles at the jetty parking area that were not displaying their after-hours permits. After a few minutes, Lieutenant Allen observed two individuals returning from the jetty carrying fishing rods and buckets. As Lieutenant Allen approached to conduct a resource inspection, he saw what appeared to be an oversized redfish sticking out of a bucket. During the inspection, the fish was found to be 29 inches in length. One of the individuals took responsibility for the fish and was issued a citation for possession of oversized redfish. 

Calhoun County

• Officers T. Scott and E. Meade located an area along the Apalachicola River that was baited with corn. The following morning the officers conducted surveillance on the area and saw three subjects calling and shooting ducks. The subjects were cited for taking ducks over bait. 

Gulf County

• Master Officer M. Webb was on patrol checking anglers at a local park in Port St. Joe. He received information about a fisheries violation and was able to contact a subject matching the description. Upon conducting a resource inspection, it revealed the subject was in possession of a 15-inch redfish. A citation was issued for undersized redfish. 
• Officers Gerber and Lipford received information about individuals possibly shooting dove near a highway. They arrived on scene and found the area was baited and also discovered bag limit and license violations. The appropriate action was taken to address the violations.

Santa Rosa County

• While on patrol in the Blackwater State Forest, Officers Mullins and Brown observed a group of about 40 off-road vehicles operating in the area. The officers went to an area known for off roading and encountered about 25 vehicles illegally operating off trail. The officers spoke with the trail ride leaders and all vehicle operators. The group was educated about forest rules and regulations and directed to use only named or numbered roads in the forest and appropriate citations were issued. 
• While on patrol Officers Brown and Mullins encountered a group partying on a sand bar in Blackwater State Forest. The group had numerous violations including litter, alcohol, and vehicles off trail. Each subject was issued multiple citations. The subjects were directed to clean up and remove prohibited items from the area. 
• Officer Lewis was on patrol in Blackwater Wildlife Management Area when he heard a shot west of his location. The officer checked a hunter near the location of the shot and the hunter advised he shot a deer but was unable to locate it. The hunter described the deer as being an antlered deer with six to eight points. The officer helped locate the deer, which did not meet antler point regulations for that deer management unit. The subject was issued a notice to appear citation for the violation. 
• Officers Bower and Roberson were on patrol when they observed a vehicle operating a light in a field commonly known to have deer. The officers stopped the vehicle and approached the two subjects. When asked if they had any guns, they said no. The officers got permission to look inside the vehicle and found a loaded shotgun. Upon further investigation, the officers discovered the owner/operator of the vehicle was a convicted felon. The vehicle owner admitted the shotgun was theirs. Both the driver and passenger were charged with night hunting gun and light, and the driver was arrested for possession of firearm by a convicted felon.  
• While on patrol in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area, Officer Brown was conducting resource and license inspections when he heard a gunshot. When Officer Brown went in the direction of the shot, he located a vehicle occupied by two individuals dressed in camouflage attempting to leave the area. Officer Brown conducted a resource and license inspection on the individuals and located two antlerless deer in the bed of the truck with treestands on top of them. Both subjects admitted to harvesting antlerless deer in an area where the take of antlerless deer is prohibited. Upon further investigation, neither of the subjects logged their harvest prior to moving the deer from their harvest location. Both individuals were cited appropriately.

CASES

Dixie County

• Officers Robson and Sheffield were on patrol along the coast when they observed a subject fishing from the shoreline. The officers conducted a marine fisheries inspection and discovered the subject was in possession of several undersized spotted seatrout. The subject was issued a citation for the violation.

Duval County

• While on land patrol, Officer Schirbock observed several people fishing from shore and trespassing on private property.  Officer Schirbock observed the subjects fishing and putting fish they caught in their buckets without measuring them.  Officer Schirbock contacted the subjects and found three people to be in possession of undersized and over-the-bag limit of red drum.  Each of the three subjects were issued citations for possession of undersized red drum and issued written warnings for over the bag limit and trespassing.  
• Officer Tyler was participating in a proactive detail to identify deer harvested outside of the state and being imported into Florida with bone-in meat. Due to chronic wasting disease, Florida has rules that prohibit possessing or importing deer, elk, moose or caribou carcasses or high-risk parts such as bone-in meat from anywhere outside of Florida. Officer Tyler observed a vehicle enter Florida from Georgia and the vehicle was towing a trailer that did not have operational trailer lights.  A traffic stop was conducted, and it was discovered the operator had been hunting in Georgia and had bone-in meat from three deer. Officer Tyler issued the subject a citation for the violation and a written warning for the faulty lights on the trailer.  

Madison County

• Officers Humphrey and Vazquez conducted numerous inspections targeting waterfowl hunting in Jefferson and Madison counties. During their patrol, they conducted numerous inspections and issued multiple citations for taking waterfowl with unplugged shotguns and no federal permits. The officers also addressed boating safety violations as well. 

Suwannee County

• Officer Boone responded to a complaint of people running dogs for wild hogs in Little River Wildlife Management Area. The officer arrived and caught the individuals in the act of using dogs to target wild hogs. One subject had been cited earlier that day for the same violation at another nearby WMA. The subjects will be charged accordingly. 

CASES

Lake County

• Officer McConnell and Lieutenant Rice received information about subjects possibly duck hunting in Emeralda Marsh Public Small Game Hunting Area on a day closed to hunting. When they arrived at the area, they observed a vessel coming back to the ramp with two subjects dressed in camouflage clothing. One of the subjects was holding a shotgun and there were duck decoys on the bow of the vessel. Upon contacting the subjects, they admitted to attempting to take ducks in Emeralda Marsh. The subjects were issued notice to appear citations for taking game in a closed area.

Marion County                

• Officers Lambert and Roberts were patrolling a local wildlife management area after midnight when they observed a slow-moving vehicle with a spotlight shining in a manner capable of disclosing the location of deer. Upon stopping the vehicle to conduct a resource inspection, the driver was found in possession of a compound bow with a mounted spotlight attachment and arrows readily accessible. The subject was cited accordingly.
• Officer Lambert was patrolling a local wildlife management area at night when he observed a stopped pickup truck with hunting dogs on the ground. Upon making contact, the subject initially claimed he was trying to catch his dogs. Further investigation and questioning determined the hunting dogs were cast after legal hunting hours. The subject was cited accordingly.

Orange County

• Officer Navarino and Officer Specialist Fahnestock conducted a resource inspection on two individuals who were using dogs to hunt wild hogs on a local wildlife management area. The individuals did not have the required personal identification information on their dogs' collars and had more than three dogs off leash at one time. One of the individuals attempted to present a lifetime license that he knew had been revoked. The individual was arrested for hunting on a revoked license and the other violations were addressed accordingly.

St. John’s County

• While conducting fisheries inspections at Lighthouse Park Boat Ramp, Senior Officer Thomas stopped a vessel returning from offshore. The operator stated he had a red grouper on board. The officer advised the operator grouper is currently closed, and she issued the operator a citation for possession of red grouper during closed season.

Sumter County

• Senior Officer Phillips received information about a baited area within Richloam Baird Unit Wildlife Management Area. While approaching the baited area, Officer Phillips observed a subject dressed in camouflage clothing begin to run away. Officer Phillips gave the subject commands to stop but they kept going while carrying their rifle. After a short foot pursuit, the subject complied and was placed into custody. During an interview with the subject, they admitted to placing the corn in the WMA to hunt deer. The subject did not have a quota permit and illegally accessed the property from private land. The subject was arrested and transported to the Sumter County Jail. They were booked on charges of placing bait in a WMA and resisting arrest without violence. Officer Phillips also issued several infractions for no quota permit, no hunter orange, and illegal entry into the WMA.

CASES

Charlotte County

• Officer Zenoniani conducted a resource inspection on a vessel with six people on board at El Jobean boat ramp. The resource inspection revealed five mottled ducks and three black-bellied whistling ducks aboard the vessel in decoy bags. Also aboard the vessel were three shotguns, one of which was unplugged and capable of holding more than three rounds. Out of the six people on board, only three said they were attempting to take ducks. Two of the subjects were nonresidents and did not have Florida hunting licenses. The subjects were charged with violations of being over the bag limit of mottled ducks, no hunting license, and unplugged shotgun. 

Lee County

• Officer Adkins was on land patrol when he observed an individual fishing from the shore at a local park with a trash bag near his feet. Officer Adkins contacted the individual and asked if he’d caught any fish. He stated that he had and they were in the trash bag. An inspection of the trash bag revealed three undersized mangrove snapper, one undersized sheepshead and one undersized redfish. The individual was issued citations and warnings for the fish as well as a warning for no fishing license.
• Officer Bell and Officer Adkins were returning from federal joint enforcement agreement patrol offshore when they stopped a vessel with two subjects onboard near the Sanibel Causeway for violating a Manatee Slow Speed Zone. During the vessel stop, the officers noticed a large amount of fish scales and blood on a cooler. The officers conducted a fisheries inspection and located two undersized mangrove snapper and one undersized spotted seatrout. The captain admitted to catching the undersized fish and placing them into the vessel. Both individuals were educated about the regulations for mangrove snapper and spotted seatrout. The captain was issued a citation for the fish and a warning for the speed violation. 

CASES

Broward County

• Officers Dudas and Bruder conducted seafood retail inspections and an inspection of a Fort Lauderdale seafood market revealed 25 oversized doctorfish (tang) and four oversized parrotfish being sold for consumption. Officers issued the owner notice to appear citations for the violations. 
• Officer Bovee was conducting marine resource inspections on the pier in Deerfield Beach and observed an individual holding a dead porkfish. A fisheries inspection revealed the Individual possessed three dead porkfish. Bovee issued the individual a notice to appear for possession of dead porkfish and no live well.
• Officers Favrot, Beppel and Rigali and Lieutenant Ryan conducted limited entry/quota permit checks in the STA 2 and STA 3/4 Waterfowl Small Game Public Hunting Areas. Their checks revealed seven subjects who attempted to hunt without a quota permit. The officers issued citations to all seven subjects and escorted them off the properties. 
• Officers Comartin and Delatorre conducted patrol in west Pembroke Pines. They observed several utility task vehicles inside a “No Trespassing” area on South Florida Water Management District lands. The officers conducted a stop and investigated five UTVs. They issued five UTV operators notice to appear citations for trespassing on SFWMD lands with motorized vehicles.

Glades County

• Officer Watson was patrolling a rural area known for hunting and game violations. He observed a vehicle driving slowly and multiple spotlights being displayed from both sides of the vehicle in a manner capable of disclosing the presence of game. Officer Watson stopped the vehicle to investigate and discovered three subjects in the vehicle along with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol. One of the passengers was found to be a convicted felon. At the end of the investigation, all three subjects were arrested for using a light in a manner capable of displaying the presence of game while in possession of a firearm commonly used to take deer. The felon was also charged with felon in possession of a firearm. 

Martin County

• Officers Peters and Simmons were patrolling Martin County when they observed six individuals cast netting. A resource inspection revealed the individuals were in possession of two bass, one redear sunfish, and additional unregulated species. Black bass and redear sunfish are classified as a game fish and it is illegal to harvest them with cast nets.  Due to the violations the subjects were arrested and transported to the Martin County Jail. 

Palm Beach County

• Officer Rea and Officer Schroer responded to a complaint of stone crab traps being placed in the Intracoastal Waterway in Jupiter without any required markings on the traps or their buoys. After removing eight unmarked traps from the water that appeared to belong to the same string of traps, they were able to locate a phone number on one of the traps. After an extensive investigation the responsible parties were identified and interviewed. During the interviews, the subject's statements were consistent that they did not take the appropriate steps to bring the traps in compliance due to the inconvenience. Both subjects were cited accordingly.

St. Lucie County

• The sheriff’s office received a complaint that multiple individuals were trespassing at the St Lucie Power Plant near the water intake channel and fishing/keeping restricted species. While conducting surveillance with sheriff’s office personnel, Officer Barghouty observed four individuals inside the restricted area trespassing and fishing. Three adults were arrested by SLCSO for trespassing, and a fishing license citation and trespass warning was issued to the fourth subject who was a juvenile. The juvenile was turned over to his mother without further incident. 

MAJOR WILDLIFE ASSISTANCE

Broward County

• Officer Bovee responded to an assistance call from the Lighthouse Point Police Department in reference to an injured pelican. Bovee arrived on scene and observed a pelican that could not stand or fly. Bovee safely captured the bird and delivered it to the South Florida Wildlife Care Center for rehabilitation. 

SEARCH AND RESCUE

Martin County

• Officers Miano, Irwin and Barghouty assisted the sheriff’s office and U.S. Coast Guard with a report of a missing person. The information received was a vessel was found adrift north of North Bridge, and clothing and a fishing net was located on a spoil island south of the vessel. The vessel contained personal effects and no signs of damage from a collision were observed. The vessel owner was identified, and family confirmed the subject had not returned home from a night of fishing.  After several days of searching the subject was not located.  A good Samaritan reported seeing a deceased person near the inlet who was later identified as the subject who went missing. 
• Officer Irwin responded to the call of a missing person in Faber Cove. While enroute, the officer was advised a subject matching the missing persons description was at a nearby fire station.  After interviewing the subject, he was able to confirm the subject was the missing person. The subject told Irwin he was hanging out with friends on an anchored vessel in Faber Cove and decided to leave by jumping in the water and swimming to shore. With no available transportation, he decided to walk to the firehouse.