FWC Law Enforcement Weekly Report 03/06 - 03/12/2015

FWC

Division of Law Enforcement

 

Weekly Report

 

March 6^th, 2015 – March 12^th, 2015

 

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.

 

Patrol, Protect, Preserve

 

 

NORTHWEST REGION

 

BAY COUNTY

 

Officers Wicker and Goodwin were on water patrol when they observed a local fishing guide pull into the St. Andrews State Park Boat Ramp and drop a female off saying, “I’ll be back to get you.”  Several minutes later, the guide returned in his truck to pick up the female. Officer Wicker had knowledge that this subject’s Florida driver license had been revoked permanently due to previous DUI convictions. The subject had reportedly been using a Georgia driver’s license.  The officers approached the truck asking the subject to see a park pass and a driver’s license.  The subject gave Officer Wicker a Georgia driver license and while doing so, Officer Goodwin detected the aroma of burnt cannabis.  When the subject was asked if there were any drugs in the truck, he said “There was some marijuana under the seat.” A glass pipe and a jar containing cannabis was located in the truck.  The subject was arrested and booked into the Bay County Jail for using a license from another state while under revocation, possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

 

Officer Gore was working in the St. Andrews State Park when he stopped a vehicle that wasn’t displaying an entry pass.  While conducting the stop, he asked if there were any drugs in the vehicle.  The passenger handed Officer Gore some cannabis and a brass pipe.  When asked if that was all, the female driver said, “I have some weed and a pipe in my purse.” Officer T. Basford arrived to assist and citations were issued for the violations and the contraband was seized.

 

Officers Leonard and Walker were working at St. Andrews State Park after hours when they noticed a vehicle pull up to the entry gate. The vehicle sat at the gate for some time without entering the code. The officers approached the vehicle to see if assistance was needed. The operator exited the vehicle as the officers approached and immediately began yelling loudly about getting to her campsite.  The officers could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from the interior of the vehicle. There were three other individuals in the vehicle and one of them in the back seat appeared to be passed out or asleep. The other two appeared to be intoxicated as they were yelling things the officers could not understand. The subject in the back seat was unresponsive and one of the passengers asked the officers if they could call an ambulance for the subject in the back seat. While waiting for the ambulance, the operator kept yelling that she needed to use the bathroom even after being told several times that there was not a bathroom available nearby. The operator pulled down her pants and urinated in front of everyone at the front gate. By the time the ambulance arrived, the subject became responsive and continuously yelled obscenities and called the paramedics vulgar names. The paramedics departed the scene transporting the subject to the emergency room. As soon as the ambulance departed the scene, the operator was taken into custody for disorderly conduct. The subject refused to get into the officer’s patrol vehicle and resisted his efforts to place her there. She was finally placed in the patrol vehicle and transported to jail.  She was also charged with resisting an officer without violence. The subject’s daughter came to the scene and took custody of the vehicle.

 

Officers Hellett, Brady, and Goodwin were working a Spring Break night detail at the front gate of St. Andrews State Park. They observed a vehicle pull up to the gate and stop. They observed the operator of this vehicle give the gate code to the occupants of another vehicle. Both vehicles opened the gate and entered the park. The officers stopped the second vehicle because it did not have a camping sticker in the window. They observed open containers of alcohol in the vehicle and one of the subjects had an alcohol container in his possession. Another subject was found to be in possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis. Citations were issued for the violations.

 

Officer Goodwin was on foot patrol in the St. Andrews State Park campground and noticed a campsite with three male subjects who appeared to be under the legal drinking age with alcohol containers sitting on the picnic table. He observed all three subjects drinking from the containers. He made contact with the subjects and asked them to produce identification. All three subjects were under the legal drinking age. On the table beside the alcohol containers, he observed a glass smoking pipe with residue and a metal grinder. He could smell the odor of cannabis on the smoking pipe. Officer Goodwin asked the subjects if there was any cannabis at the campsite. Each subject produce a plastic bag of cannabis. Officers Letcher, Waring and N. Basford arrived at the scene to assist. All three subjects were charged with possession of cannabis less than 20 grams and possession of alcohol under the legal age of 21.

 

Officer Gore was conducting surveillance at a local public fishing area when he observed two subjects harvesting and eating oysters off bridge pilings in a closed area.  The subjects were found to possess a five gallon bucket of oysters and to be harvesting in a recreational capacity.  During the encounter, one subject was found in possession of two needles and a baggie of methamphetamine.  Written warnings for the oyster violations were issued and the subject with the narcotics was arrested and booked into the Bay County Jail.

 

SANTA ROSA COUNTY

 

Lieutenant Hahr was patrolling in the Perdido River WMA when he observed two young women consuming alcoholic beverages.  When he approached them, he discovered that the older male subject was also in possession of a small amount of cannabis.  One of the women was also in possession of a small amount of cannabis.  The two women were charged with possession of alcoholic beverages. The man and one woman were also charged with possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis.

 

JACKSON COUNTY

 

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

 

Officer Baber represented the FWC at Grand Ridge Elementary School this week during their Agriculture Education Day.  Officer Baber displayed an alligator and presented information about boating safety and hunting safety to approximately 300 students throughout the day.

 

OKALOOSA COUNTY

 

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

 

Officers J. Rockwell and Maltais taught the laws portion of a Hunter Safety class and answered questions about the new deer management units and the daily bag limit of turkeys. There were 28 students in attendance.

 

 

NORTH CENTRAL REGION

 

DUVAL COUNTY

 

Lieutenant Arkin conducted land based water patrol at two boat ramps in Duval County. At both boat ramps Lieutenant Arkin encountered subjects sitting in their vehicles by the ramp smoking cannabis. In both cases, Lieutenant Arkin issued a notice to appear for possession of cannabis under 20 grams and a written warning for possession of drug paraphernalia. At both of these boat ramps the following items were seized as evidence: cannabis, grinders, scales, rolling papers and glass smoking pipes.

 

FWC officers from the Resource Protection Unit were working a complaint involving an individual catching and retaining undersized spotted sea trout at Brown’s Creek Bridge. A subject matching the description in the complaint was observed fishing. One officer sat next to him and watched the subject catch two small looking trout and concealed them in a plastic bag stashed behind his cooler as he proceed to bait up and continue fishing.  The officer announced his presence and four undersized spotted sea trout were located.  The subject stated that the minimum size should be 13 inches, but his fish were nine inches long. He was issued multiple misdemeanor citations.

 

LEVY COUNTY

 

Officers Russo and Dishman went to a bait complaint in the Goethe WMA. They located the site in question and found a tree stand with an area where hogs had disturbed the ground around a tree. There was no identification information found on the stand. The area also had no visible evidence of bait. While working this complaint, they heard several hunting dogs barking to the east of their location. Officers Russo and Dishman struck out in the direction of the barking dogs and within approximately 15 minutes a dog came by. 15 minutes later another dog with a visible blinking tracking collar approached and they caught it. Several minutes later another dog approached them which they also caught. They waited until the owners came looking for the dogs. A few minutes later, two subjects crossed through the fence into the WMA to locate their dogs. Officers Russo and Dishman made contact with them and after interviewing the subjects they issued the appropriate paperwork and released the animals.

 

Taylor County

 

Officers Wilcox, Deweese, Korade and Investigator McMillan began the day watching multiple subject’s fish and harvest a limit of spotted sea trout. Throughout the day many of the subjects returned to harvest more fish. As those subjects attempted to leave the area the officers stopped and questioned the individuals concerning the violations. The officers issued nine suspects a notice to appear and seized fifty-six trout for the violations. Six subjects were cited with major violations for harvesting three or more fish over the daily bag limit.

 

Suwannee County

 

Officers Mobley, Boone and Nichols responded to an incident in reference to an illegal turkey being killed in Wellborn. The leaseholder had located turkey feathers, fresh blood and a knife on his property. A blood trail led to recent golf cart tracks which went toward several homes on different properties. After a brief investigation, the subject was located. He admitted to killing a gobbler earlier that morning and advised that he thought the season was in. The subject was issued a notice to appear for taking turkey during closed season. Parts of the turkey and his shotgun were seized as evidence.

 

 

NORTH EAST REGION

 

BREVARD COUNTY

 

Officer Krynicki was dispatched to a report of a single vehicle crash on the St. Sebastian Buffer Preserve. As he arrived on scene, he noticed tire marks in a snake-like pattern from the left edge of the road to the right edge where they ended directly behind the wrecked vehicle. A white Chevy S-10 pickup had crashed into a telephone pole.  A Park Ranger found the two defendants walking away from the truck. The operator told Officer Krynicki he had been driving and was doing "donuts", "burn outs", and "fish-tailing" when he lost control of his truck and slammed into the telephone pole.  The passenger told the same story. While inspecting the damage, initially Officer Krynicki could smell the odor of beer and saw beer cans in the back of the wrecked truck. He conducted a field sobriety exercises on the operator, but the subject had no signs of impairment or alcoholic beverage on his breath.  Officer Krynicki conducted a search of the wrecked vehicle due to it being towed. While searching the vehicle he found several pieces of cannabis, rolling papers, a glass pipe head, a plastic pipe tip and a small blue pipe all tested positive for cannabis.  He issued a Uniform Traffic Citation for Reckless Driving to the operator and both subjects were issued citations  for Possession of Cannabis (Under 20 Grams) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

 

LAKE/MARION COUNTY

 

Officers Weis and Sumpter were informed that several individuals would be hunting turkeys early on some property along the Lake/Marion County line. Without any success the first morning, the officers waited again the second morning. Three hunters arrived at the location and began actively calling for turkeys. They hunted for a period of time and returned to the truck. The officers found them to be fully dressed in camo and in possession of guns, turkey decoys and turkey calls. All three subjects admitted to attempting to take turkeys and were issued a notice to appear for the violation.

OSCEOLA COUNTY

 

Over the past weekend in Osceola County, officers from Osceola, Polk and Brevard counties participated in a detail organized by Officer Brandon Scrambling for the annual Airboat Jamboree/Freedom Ride. The detail’s primary focus was boating safety and BUI enforcement. Three BUI’s were issued as well as citations and warnings for multiple violations ranging from refusal to submit breath, urine, or blood, improper registration, no hull identification numbers, no navigation lights, insufficient number of life vests, no sound producing device and operating airboats without proper flags. 

 

The officers responded to a reported boat fire located at River Ranch Boat Ramp. Upon arriving on scene they discovered there was no fire, however, the vessel operator showed signs of impairment. Officer Maslo conducted field sobriety tasks and found the operator’s normal faculties to be impaired. Officer Maslo arrested the subject for operating a vessel while under the influence and charged him for BUI and possession of prescription drugs without a prescription. The subject was transported to the Polk County Jail.

 

Investigator Trusley, Officers Maslo and Conlin were heading back to the boat trailers to conclude the day’s operation when they noticed several airboats in Gardner Marsh with glow whips. The officers stopped multiple boats, one of which had no navigation lights. Officer Conlin noticed the operator showed signs of impairment and conducted field sobriety tasks. Subsequent to his investigation the operator was arrested for BUI, failure to display HIN and no navigation lights. The subject was transported the Osceola County Jail.

 

Officer Conlin made a second BUI arrest on Sunday. While patrolling Lake Kissimmee in North Cove, Investigator Trusley, Officers Maslo and Conlin noticed an airboat doing donuts and missing the required flag and flag pole. After stopping the vessel, Officer Conlin noticed the operator of the vessel showed signs of impairment. Officer Conlin conducted field sobriety tasks and determined the operator to be under the influence. The subject was arrested for BUI and transported to the Osceola County Jail.

 

Several other investigations stemmed from this detail reference title fraud. 

 

Due to the high visibility, and proactive patrol of Law Enforcement on Saturday and Sunday there was no reports of vessel accidents. This is a substantial drop from previous years.

 

SUMTER COUNTY

 

Officers have been watching a large alligator in a local WMA suspecting it would possibly be illegally harvested during the recent small game hunt. Officer Sweet received information that the alligator was killed and tail removed. Officers Sweet and Straub located a suspect. They also located the freshly removed alligator tail in a cooler and the rifle it was killed with. Appropriate charges will be filed with the state attorney’s office.

 

VOLUSIA COUNTY

 

Officer Ransom responded to a complaint of a video posted on social media showing an unidentified person shooting a white ibis. As a result of his investigation he was able to identify the shooter and obtain a full confession. The bird had been discarded and predators destroyed much of it, but Officer Ransom was able to recover enough of the remains to positively identify the bird as a white ibis. Charges have been filed through the state attorney’s office for taking a state listed species of special concern.

 

 

SOUTHWEST REGION

 

LEE COUNTY

 

Officer Zampella put together a special detail to focus on the spring turkey season.  During opening day, Officers Furbay and McColgin set up in an area they knew was baited.  Just before sunrise, a man drove to the site and started hunting turkeys.  When the officers stopped the man to perform a resource inspection, the man claimed he did not know anything about any bait on the ground.  The officers located red milo seed and corn within 60 feet of where he was hunting.  The man also did not have a hunting license or turkey stamp.  He was issued a misdemeanor notice to appear and two infractions for the violations. 

 

Officer Morrow was dispatched to the Landings Marina in Fort Myers to investigate the report of boating accident that had occurred the previous night. The investigation, which was conducted the following morning, revealed that a resident from the marina was attempting to back his new vessel into a slip after sunset. The operator admitted that he had very little experience operating his new boat and reported to the officer that he gave it too much throttle which caused the back of the boat to swing out and collide into the rear of an unoccupied moored 24 foot vessel. There were three people on board and no injuries reported.  The operator was issued three written warnings: careless operation, failure to report an accident involving more than $2,000 in damages and for having the navigational lights improperly displayed.

                           

Officer Fogle responded by boat to a citizen complaint of  two individuals taking live shells along the sandbar located in the middle of Pine Island Sound.  Under current law, the taking and/or possession of any live shell is prohibited in Lee County.  The complainant, a local charter fishing guide, reportedly observed the activity for several minutes and then called the Wildlife Alert number to report it.  Using the information provided by the guide, Officer Fogle was able to locate and apprehend the subjects while still in the act of collecting the live shells.  Both subjects, who are locally known commercial fishermen, were issued notices to appear on the violations and the operator received several written warnings for boating safety violations.  A total of approximately (8) 5-gal buckets of assorted live shells were returned back to the water alive and unharmed. 

 

LEE COUNTY

 

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

 

Officer Bryson attended the annual Bonita Springs Boat Show. The Lee County Marine Law Enforcement Task Force booth was set up and staffed by the local marine law enforcement agencies. There were approximately 1,000 people in attendance while Officer Bryson was there answering questions and handing out fishing regulations and various pamphlets.

Officers Fogle and Morrow gave a one hour presentation to an audience of retired Pennsylvania State Troopers at the Perkins restaurant in Fort Myers. The topic of discussion were the duties and responsibilities of an FWC officer.  There were approximately twenty five people in attendance.  Educational materials were handed out and both officers fielded questions afterwards from the group. 

 

CHARLOTTE COUNTY

 

Officer Morrison responded to a Boating accident in Lemon Bay between a charter vessel and a Personal water craft. The Charter vessel had thirteen persons on board returning from a restaurant on Palm Island when the Personal water craft was attempting to overtake the charter vessel. The personal water craft was too close to the stern of the charter vessel and got caught in the wake. The personal water craft then reduced power which reduced steering maneuverability and the two vessels made contact causing minor damage and no injuries.

 

After 9 months of delays, the defendant in Officer Ruggiero’s BUI case was found guilty.  In addition to the subjects BUI charges, he was also charged with violating his probation, resulting in additional charges and fines including almost 12 months of jail.  This was the subject’s third operating under the influence conviction. 

 

While on road patrol towards the end of shift late Saturday night, Officer Ruggiero noticed a vehicle being operated in an unusual fashion.  After making the traffic stop the driver was requested to perform field sobriety tasks, to which she agreed.  After the performance of the tasks, observations of the vehicle in motion, and the other indicators, Officer Ruggiero placed the driver under arrest for DUI.  The driver was almost 2 times over the legal limit BAC and this was the subject’s second DUI arrest. 

 

Officer Bell and Lieutenant Barrett were patrolling Shell Creek when they observed 3 men fishing from a dock.  As they watched, one of the men caught a small mangrove snapper and put it in a bucket.  The officers contacted the three men and learned that all three of them had been catching mangrove snapper and putting them in the same bucket.  The officers found a total of 22 mangrove snapper, well over the bag limit of 5 per person per day.  In addition, 15 of the snapper were under the minimum size of 10 inches total length.  Appropriate citations were issued to all three men.

 

PASCO COUNTY

 

Officer Pulaski was on water patrol in the Hudson Beach area when he observed a vessel returning to the boat ramp with no navigational lights illuminated. After stopping the vessel to address the violation and conduct a boating safety inspection, Officer Pulaski noticed the operator showing signs of impairment. Field sobriety tasks were conducted and the operator was subsequently arrested for boating under the influence.

 

PINELLAS COUNTY

 

Lieutenant Wells and Officers Smith, Freemon and Thompson were on patrol aboard the Offshore Patrol Vessel Guardian.  In the Gulf of Mexico approximately 75 miles west of Pinellas County, the officers located a commercial fishing vessel.  As the officers approached the vessel, the crew started throwing fish overboard.  The officers were able to recover some undersized vermillion snapper, but several other fish and pieces thereof sunk.  The captain of the vessel was charged with possession of undersized vermillion snapper and interfering with the duties of a FWC Officer.  The officers stayed on patrol and located another commercial fishing vessel several more miles west of their position.  As the officers were boarding the vessel, the captain of the fishing vessel started throwing fillets of fish over the side of the vessel.  The officers were able to recover some of the filleted fish and it was identified as grouper. The captain of the fishing vessel was charged with landing reef fish not in whole condition.

 

 

SOUTH REGION A

 

BROWARD COUNTY

 

Officer Warne was dispatched to the city of Wilton Manors in reference to an injured bird.  Officer Warne arrived on scene and went into the backyard of the complainant. He observed a medium sized hawk on the ground. He was able to approach it, wrap it in a towel and put it into a wildlife crate. There were no visual signs of trauma, but the hawk was very lethargic. Officer Warne delivered the injured hawk to the Wildlife Care Center intake facility for examination and treatment.

 

Officer Vacin was patrolling offshore in the area of Dania Beach. He conducted a marine fisheries inspection on two spear fishermen on a kayak.  With information gathered from the inspection, Officer Vacin issued one individual a criminal notice to appear for possession of undersized hogfish and undersized mutton snapper. The other individual was issued a criminal notice to appear for possession of undersized mutton snapper and undersized gray triggerfish. Four dead fish were seized as evidence.

 

Investigator Teems conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in John Lloyd State Park, pursuant to the stop the operator was cited for:  knowingly driving on a suspended license, no registration, no insurance and tag not assigned. The vehicle was towed by a rotation tow truck and held for proper ownership to be shown for release.

 

HENDRY COUNTY

 

Officer Alford was patrolling in Hendry County on Hwy 835 south of Clewiston when he observed a subject lying on the side of the road.  The subject raised an arm, indicating a need for assistance as Officer Alford pulled over to investigate.  The subject was disorientated, smelled of alcohol and approached stumbling and falling to the ground.  Officer Alford placed the subject in a kneeling position to survey the scene.  A brief investigation led to the discovery of a vehicle in the canal, hidden behind the cat tails. The vehicle had collided with a telephone poll, deflected, and was sent into the ditch.  After Hendry County Sheriff’s Department arrived, Officer Alford searched the area for other occupants.  Hendry County finished the DUI crash investigation and the subject was arrested and taken to the Hendry County Jail.

 

Officer Mullins received a call from off-duty Officer Lilley. Officer Lilley stated that there was a subject throwing a cast net into the Port Labelle pond. Officer Mullins arrived at the pond to find a subject matching the description and standing at the water’s edge facing the pond with a cast net in hand. Officer Mullins conducted a fisheries inspection which revealed three bass and two pan fish. Upon closer inspection two additional pan fish were found entangled in the cast net, for a total of four pan fish. The subject also did not possess a valid freshwater fishing license. Officer Mullins issued the subject a misdemeanor notice to appear for illegal method of harvesting game fish and a citation for no valid freshwater fishing license.

 

 

SOUTH REGION B

 

COLLIER COUNTY

 

Lieutenant Walsh and National Park Service Ranger Carney were on buggy patrol in the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area (WMA). During a hunting camp inspection, turkey feathers and blood were observed, but the hunter stated that no one had harvested a turkey. After a short interview the hunter admitted to taking a turkey on the previous day, but wasn't able to say exactly where he was hunting. After continuing to interview the suspect and another member of the camp, it was learned that they had baited a nearby area where the turkey was taken. An inspection of the area revealed that the turkey was taken over bait. The appropriate Federal citations were issued to each individual.  

 

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

 

Officer Reynaud was on land patrol in southern Miami-Dade County when he was dispatched to a report of a stranded/beached sperm whale on Virginia Key. Once Officer Reynaud arrived on scene he managed to keep the onlookers at bay as FWC biologist attended to the whale. In the end, the whale was pronounced dead and a necropsy was scheduled to be performed in order to better understand the cause of death.

 

COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING

 

Officer Pino, Veloz and Pestka attended The Pet Amnesty event at Zoo Miami. The officers assisted with crowd control, helped the staff with accepting the numerous exotic pets that were surrendered and also answered questions about the FWC. Over 60 animals that included reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds and invertebrates were turned in during this one day event. This program provides the exotic pet owner the ability to turn in unwanted pets and provides the opportunity to reduce or prevent the release of nonnative animals into Florida’s ecosystem.

 

Officer Martin along with other marine partners responded to a marine distress call reporting that a vessel was sinking three miles off the coast of Elliot Key in southern Miami Dade County. When Officer Martin arrived on scene, she found two men on board the City of Miami Fire Rescue boat and a half sunken vessel floating nearby. According to the men they were fishing when the boat began to take waves over the transom. Unfortunately for the men the bilge pumps were not working making an already difficult situation even worst. The men decided to dawn their life vest and cut the anchor line but it was too late, within minutes the vessel overturned tossing the men into the water. If it not for the quick response from the marine rescuers the two men would have probably not survived this harrowing event.

 

While patrolling Bill Baggs State Park in Cape Florida, Officer Martin saw two men fishing off a pier. She approached and asked the men how their fishing was going. One man said they hadn't caught anything. After a brief conversation she walked away but not before noticing an orange bucket near the fishermen’s bags with what appeared to be a fish tail sticking out of the top of the bucket. After removing the trash piled on top, Officer Martin found several undersized mangrove snapper and other unregulated fish. The men were cited for possession of undersized grey snapper.

 

An officer assigned to patrol Oleta River State Park conducted a traffic detail targeting speeders within the park. As a result, the officer issued 8 citations and several written warnings.  

 

Selected personnel from the region's Investigations section, a field investigator and an officer just completed a "buy/bust" detail. Information obtained from a popular sales website indicated that a subject was selling two gopher tortoises, a protected species of Florida wildlife. Undercover officers established contact with the seller and a "buy" was set up. Once the sales transaction was completed, the uniformed officer was called in to arrest the seller and charge him with illegal possession of gopher tortoises and illegal sale of wildlife.

 

MONROE COUNTY

 

Recourse Protection Officer Adams and Lieutenant Robison were patrolling the waters off of Marathon when they stopped a commercial lobster fishing boat that was not displaying the proper buoy. Once on board the vessel the officers found 2 untagged lobster traps on the deck in plain view. Officer Adams continued searching the vessel and soon discovered 46 undersized wrung lobster tails hidden inside the puller gear box. The captain and the 2 mates on the vessel were arrested and transported to the Monroe County Jail. They now face several charges to include the possession of undersized wrung lobster tails as well as being in possession of 2 untagged lobster traps.

 

Officer Mattson was on water patrol in the area of Lower Matecumbe when he observed a charter fishing vessel returning from a half day charter. Officer Mattson had prior knowledge that the vessel was chartering customers with an expired saltwater fishing license. Officer Mattson proceeded to stop the vessel and confirmed that the captain did not have an up to date charter fishing license. He was also written other citations for having an expired registration (9 months expired) and (2) other citations for boating safety equipment violations.