FWC DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT WEEKLY REPORT

FWC DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT WEEKLY REPORT April 5-11, 2013 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 1

NORTHWEST REGION OKALOOSA COUNTY Officer Heath Nichols observed a subject roll a marijuana cigarette in the day use area of Rocky Bayou State Park. The officer approached the subject after he exited his vehicle and started smoking the cigarette. The subject quickly discarded the cigarette in the water when he observed Officer Nichols, even though he was directed not to. The cigarette was retrieved and its contents tested positive for marijuana. The subject was issued a notice to appear for possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis. Resource Protection Service (RPS) Officer James Rockwell was working the east jetties in Destin when he observed a subject catching Spanish mackerel and not measuring them. Officer Rockwell began counting the fish as the subject caught them and placed them in a bucket. He observed the subject catch 23 Spanish mackerel and move them from the bucket to a back pack. When Officer Rockwell made contact with the subject, the man opened the back pack and dumped all the fish into the water. The subject was cited for interference with an FWC Officer by failing to permit an inspection. BAY COUNTY Officer Steve Wicker responded to a vessel accident on Econfina Creek in which a jon boat ran under a tree limb striking a passenger. The passenger was unconscious and having seizures and was transported to Bay Medical Hospital by ambulance. Officer Wicker found the vessel operator to be impaired and arrested him for boating under the influence (BUI). The operator refused the breath test stating he was over the limit. NORTH CENTRAL REGION ALACHUA COUNTY Officers Brad Stanley and Joshua Bembry were on land patrol when they observed a suspicious vehicle stopped in the middle of a dirt road. The officers approached and observed a male driver and female passenger in the back seat. As Officer Stanley was reading the car s tag, Officer Bembry observed something black being tossed from the passenger window. Officer Bembry retrieved the black case while Officer Stanley made the traffic stop. Two bags of narcotics were found inside the black case. The narcotics tested positive for methamphetamine. After a more thorough search, Officer Bembry and Lieutenant David Ferguson found two used syringes in the road. A third syringe was found in the pocket of the female subject. The driver of the vehicle was cited for littering and both subjects were detained. The case was turned over to the Alachua County Drug Task Force for further investigation. COLUMBIA/SUWANNEE COUNTIES 2

Lieutenants Jeff Swan and Tim Kiss, Officers Joe McGrath, Dwain Mobley and Todd Nichols, participated in a joint training detail with the Florida National Guard from Camp Blanding. The training consisted of locating objects while on shallow draft vessels on the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers and bringing them back to the local boat ramps. Twelve men participated in the joint training detail utilizing three vessels from FWC and five vessels from the Florida National Guard. The Columbia County Sheriff s Office also participated with one vessel and two officers. The training was a success and is the beginning of a joint training effort between the FWC and the National Guard to enhance public service and safety responses during natural disasters, such as major floods or hurricanes. Additional training events are being organized for 2013. DUVAL COUNTY Officer Tim Shearer was on water patrol when he performed a resource inspection on a subject fishing from the shore. The subject was found to be in possession of undersized sea trout. A records check revealed he had six prior fisheries violations and a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear. He was booked on the fisheries violation and the warrant. Officers Chris Holleman and Tim Shearer responded to a complaint of an impaired boater. The operator admitted being on the water for 10 hours and consuming beer throughout the day. He ran his boat aground as he was returning to his marina after sundown. He had three children under the age of 10 onboard. The operator was unable to dock his vessel and finally allowed Officer Shearer to pull the boat to the dock with a line. He exhibited obvious signs of impairment and seated field sobriety tasks indicated a blood alcohol level of.08% or higher. He was arrested for BUI. NORTHEAST REGION VOLUSIA COUNTY Dispatch received a complaint of trespass on private property at the Lake Monroe Management Area. Investigator Dan Kees was assigned the call and made contact with a subject who had been hunting turkey in the management area. The subject had taken a bearded turkey. The subject advised that he shot the bird in flight and it landed on private property. The subject subsequently climbed the landowner s eight-foot wire fence to retrieve the bird. Investigation of the area, land owner information, and inconsistencies in the hunter s account revealed that the subject did knowingly trespass on posted enclosed private property and possibly trespassed by projectile. Investigator Kees direct-filed the findings with the State Attorney s Office. While on state forest patrol, Officer Duane North encountered an unoccupied, suspicious vehicle near a camping area. While investigating he soon heard voices coming from the woods nearby. Following the sound, Officer North encountered three subjects in possession of a live/box trap. One of the subjects admitted to being the 3

owner of the trap and using it to catch animals for fun. Trapping is prohibited on this property, so the subject was cited accordingly. Over the weekend FWC joined efforts with multiple agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Volusia County Sheriff s Office to closely patrol the regulated posted manatee zones on the St. Johns River and the coastal waters. This multi-agency approach was an attempt to gain voluntary compliance with the established slow speed zones, verify that boat operators were not impaired and that their vessels had all the required safety equipment on board. Of hundreds of vessels were observed during the weekend, 188 vessels were stopped and inspected. Ten vessel operators were cited for slow speed zone violations and another 81 were issued warnings for less severe speed violations within the marked zones. Twelve citations and 79 warnings were issued for vessel safety equipment violations and one vessel operator was arrested for BUI. Lieutenant Ben Eason, Investigator Kevin Hanson, and Officer Naomii Tyr conducted seated battery transition training for U.S. Coast Guard Station Ponce (USCG) personnel, Lake County Sheriff s Office and Volusia County Sheriff s Office. This was the first transition Boating Under the Influence training completed by USCG on the east coast of Florida. ST. JOHNS COUNTY The week prior to turkey season, Officer Rich Wilcox located several sites baited with cracked corn within a local hunt club. The opening morning of turkey season he worked the hunt club and cited two hunters for hunting turkey hunting within 20 yards of corn. ORANGE COUNTY Lieutenant Byron Smith was traveling on State Road 44 when he saw a vehicle operator pass in a No Passing zone on a blind hill and cause a motorcycle operator to take evasive action. The vehicle was stopped and the operator charged with reckless driving and possession of marijuana. The passenger was arrested on an outstanding warrant. SEMINOLE COUNTY Lieutenant Byron Smith was working the St. John s River when he received a complaint from a concerned citizen that some children were in a boat with two subjects smoking marijuana. The operator was arrested for BUI and possession of cannabis. Officer Nathan Douglas and Lieutenant Byron Smith responded to a theft violation at Wekiwa Springs State Park. While Officer Douglas was charging a subject for petty theft, Lieutenant Smith made contact with the subject s friend and discovered a felony amount of marijuana and possession of drugs without a prescription. The subject was charged for possession of marijuana with intent to sell within a state park, and possession of drugs without a prescription. 4

SOUTHWEST REGION CHARLOTTE COUNTY Investigator Jason Cooke and Lieutenant Michael Frantz gave a presentation to Lemon Bay High School students concerning FWC missions and employment opportunities. The students showed interest and asked several questions. DESOTO COUNTY Officers Prowant and Cocke were on water patrol on the Peace River when Officer Prowant spotted a dead opossum suspended above the water from a steel cable. A closer inspection revealed that the animal was being used as bait on a bush hook that was attached to a dock. Shortly after discovering of the bush hook, contact was made with a subject who admitted that he placed the opossum and hook there in attempt to catch an alligator. The subject was cited for taking alligator by illegal method. Shortly after finishing up the alligator incident, the officers conducted a stop on a vessel containing two fishermen. An inspection reveled that the subjects were fishing without fishing licenses. Officer Prowant gained consent from the subjects to search their coolers and bag onboard for resources. A search revealed that one subject was in possession of drug paraphernalia. The subjects were cited for fishing without a license, possession of drug paraphernalia, and a written warning was issued for catching game fish (bluegill) by illegal method. MANATEE COUNTY Officer Evan Laskowski was on patrol during the spring turkey season in the Myakka City area when he discovered an area that was baited with grain from a hanging feeder. After daylight from a disclosed position, Officer Laskowski heard an individual calling for turkeys. After a short period of time, Officer Laskowski announced his presence and conducted a resource check. The subject was cited for attempting to take wild turkey less than 100 yards from a feeding station. POLK COUNTY Officer Robert Adams was on water patrol in the area of Camp Mack when he observed a vehicle pulling an airboat and operating wrecklessly in the parking lot. When the driver of the vehicle saw Officer Adams patrol vessel, he fled the area at a high rate of speed. Officer Adams recognized the vehicle, but was unable to positively identify the operator. During a search of the area, Officer Adams located several witnesses who told him the vehicle operator was drunk and had wrecked his airboat earlier in the day. Officer Adams located the vehicle and its owner at nearby Camp Lester and conducted an interview. Upon examination, it appeared the vessel had recently been damaged, 5

but the owner was uncooperative and denied being in a vessel collision. The suspect appeared to be intoxicated; however Officer Adams was unable to prove that he had been operating the vehicle or vessel while impaired. Officer Adams photographed the vessel and conducted a follow-up interview with the suspect the next day. The suspect admitted he was operating the vessel when he hit a wake which pushed him into the trees on the C-37 Canal. The impact damaged the vessel hull, metal work, prop and caused his vessel to sink. After giving Officer Adams the required information needed for the boating accident report, the subject invoked his rights and would not allow Officer Adams to continue the interview. Officer Adams will file charges against the operator related to the boating accident. Additionally, the operator had received several boating citations previously and had his privilege to operate a vessel suspended. Officer Adams will file a charge related to this violation as well. SOUTH REGION A BROWARD COUNTY Officer Coffin was on patrol in John Lloyd State Park when he observed a vehicle traveling down the main road with what appeared to be an altered license plate. From information gathered, Officer Coffin charged the driver with driving without a license, and another individual in the vehicle for altering a decal. Misdemeanors and infractions were issued. The vehicle was towed and the operator was also found to be in the U.S. illegally. The U.S. Border Patrol responded and took custody of the individual. Officers Vacin and Brock were on patrol when they conducted a fishing license check on an individual and discovered that this individual had three outstanding felony warrants. The individual was arrested and taken to the Broward County Jail without incident. Lieutenant Carpenter was on patrol in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea when he observed an individual surf fishing. He made contact with the individual and conducted a marine fisheries inspection. The individual was found to be in possession of ten pompano. Officers Ryan and Corteguera arrived on scene to assist. With information gathered, Officer Ryan cited the subject for possession of over the bag limit of pompano and possession of undersized pompano. Four undersized pompano were seized as evidence. Officer N. Rodriguez was on patrol in the vicinity of the Broward Palm Beach County line at the Hillsboro Canal where she observed an individual fishing. She made contact with the subject and conducted a fisheries inspection. With information gathered, the individual was cited for possession of undersized dog snapper and possession of undersized permit. One dog snapper and one permit were seized as evidence. GLADES COUNTY Officer A.J. Maynard was dispatched to a vessel accident involving an airboat that had 6

swamped and sunk. Officer Maynard responded to Fisheating Creek and observed an airboat partially submerged on its starboard side. Officer Maynard observed no injuries with the occupants onboard. With the use of a salvage contractor and a winch, the vessel was uprighted and towed back to the ramp. The airboat appeared to have suffered water damage only from the motor being submerged. Once the airboat was back on the trailer, Officer Maynard completed a self-report boating accident report and issued it to the operator of the vessel. HENDRY COUNTY Officer Mike Lilley was on patrol when he observed a vehicle pull out from a driveway onto a rural road with no surrounding houses. Officer Lilley conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, and as he approached the driver s side he observed a bag with what appeared to be blood and meat inside. Officer Lilley asked the driver what was inside of the bag, and the subject advised that it was an otter head that he had killed several weeks ago while it was in season. Officer Lilley interviewed the subject further and found that he had just killed the otter a day or so ago during the closed season. The subject was cited for the violation. MARTIN COUNTY Last April during the boat races at the Stuart Causeway, Officers Woolrich and Moss, Dorrichi and Sierra stopped a PWC on plane in the manatee zone at Sailfish Flats. The operator showed several signs of impairment and ejected his female passenger while trying to stop. Officer Woolrich initiated field sobriety tasks, but the subject refused to finish them. At the jail the subject blew a.332 and.328 BAC. He was transported to the hospital where he was cleared to go back to the jail. This was the subject s fifth arrest for DUI/BUI. The case was closed earlier this month, and the subject received a sentence of eighteen months in prison. Officers David Moss, Thomas Koch, James Payne, Justin Pifer, Kelsea Wiernicki, Tyson Matthews, Jim Fillip, Caitlyn Staskiewicz, Lieutenants Atwell Pride and Rino Doricchi executed a BUI detail labeled "Operation Wolfpack" in the vicinity of the Martin County sandbar. The detail included ten officers and five vessels. During the detail, multiple vessels were stopped. Ultimately, two operators were arrested for BUI. One subject blew a.218 and the other subject blew a.160. There were two BUI misdemeanor citations written, four uniform boating citations written and eight warnings written. ST. LUCIE COUNTY Officer James Payne was conducting resource inspections at a Ft. Pierce Boat Ramp when a vessel with two people onboard pulled up to the ramp around 1 a.m. One of the subjects onboard was a commercial fisherman who fishes on a local long line boat. The resource inspection revealed four undersized mangrove snapper, three undersized black drum, two undersized lane snapper, one undersized mutton snapper, and an undersized black sea bass. The two subjects were arrested and booked into the St 7

Lucie County Jail for the charges. Officer Payne recognized the vessel from a stop two days prior. During the stop, Officers Payne and Wayne Sapp issued three fishing license citations, two boating safety citations, and they spoke with the subjects onboard about size regulations for snapper. Officers James Payne and Wayne Sapp conducted a day long crab trap inspection detail, which entailed pulling traps in the water beginning at the Fort Pierce South Bridge north to the Indian River County line. The purpose was to locate abandoned traps and traps which were not properly marked either by number as required for commercial harvesters or by name as required for recreational harvesters. Traps also have to meet specific size and construction requirements. Four harvesters were contacted and issued warnings for several minor violations. The traps were removed from the water until they are brought into compliance. SOUTH REGION B COLLIER COUNTY RPS Officer Thomas Van Trees was on land patrol when he observed two men at a spillover known to contain various game fish including bass, peacock bass, and snook. Officer Van Trees approached the men and when asked they stated they only had two bass. The men gave consent to a search, and Officer Van Trees found another nine bass. All 11 bass were over the 14 limit. The men were allowed to keep their two legal bass and were cited for over the bag limit of black bass and possession of more than one black bass over 14 per person for a total of 10 misdemeanor charges. Officer Brian Barringer exhibited an educational display and a juvenile alligator at the annual Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park Nature Festival. Officer Barringer educated the public about wildlife resources, saltwater fishing, and boating. An estimated 1,500 people were in attendance at the event. K-9 Officer Felix Collazo and RPS Officer Thomas Van Trees were on water patrol when they saw two subjects on a vessel having mechanical issues. The officers performed a boating safety inspection because there was fishing equipment and coolers onboard the vessel. During the inspection, Officer Van Trees noticed a bag containing prescription pill bottles. After obtaining permission to search the bag contents, the officer located a small wooden box with a pipe, a green leafy substance, and a small carwash nozzle with substance residue. Officer Van Trees field tested the substance, which gave a positive indication of cannabis. One of the subjects acknowledged ownership of the items and was issued a citation. The vessel safety equipment was in compliance and there was no fish onboard. The subject also was verbally warned and educated for not having a saltwater fishing license in possession. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY 8

RPS Officers Alex Diaz and George Reynaud recently completed a two week long investigation dealing with an illegal commercial blue crab operation. As a direct result of this investigation, Officer Diaz and Reynaud made two arrests for no commercial blue crab license, no commercial markings on a vessel, illegal blue crab traps, and felony driving while license suspended. The officers also zeroed in on a local market that was involved in buying and selling the contraband blue crabs without a retail saltwater license. In total, there was one felony and eleven misdemeanors citations issued. Also, 40 illegal crab traps were taken into evidence. Miami-Dade officers responded to a search and rescue in the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area where a family of five from Ohio that included a father, mother, and three young children were reported missing. After an exhaustive search in cold, rainy conditions, Officers Gabriel Fernandez, Tony Dominguez, Investigator Guy Gilbert and members from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue search and rescue team managed to find the family. A delicate operation ensued where the search and rescue team had to walk into alligator infested waters for several hundred yards in order to reach the cold and frightened family. Once the family s airboat was freed, the FWC Officers involved escorted the family to shore where they were checked out by fire rescue s personnel. The family was then transported to Kendal Regional Hospital for evaluation. MONROE COUNTY Officer Bret Swennson responded to a late night boating accident where a vessel crashed into the mangroves near Tavernier. Upon arriving on the scene, Officer Swaennson contacted the operator who appeared to be intoxicated. According to spontaneous statements made by the operator, he was on his way home after a long night when he lost control of his vessel and collided with the mangroves. Miraculously, the operator suffered no injuries and was subsequently transported to the Monroe County Jail after refusing to submit to any field sobriety tests. FWC Officers responded to the Port Largo Canal in Key Largo in reference to a diver spearfishing with no dive flag. Plain clothes Officer Jason Rafter located the diver in the canal and saw him swimming along the sea wall in possession of a spear gun. Other FWC Officers also responded to the area in order to keep track of the diver. A short while later the diver was approached after officers saw him dropping his spear gun and his catch bag below the water. Once the spear gun and catch bag were retrieved and the contents were revealed, the diver was arrested for several resource violations. Among some of the charges filed against the subject were possession of 25 lobsters out of season, possession of 25 wrung lobster tails in the water, possession of 18 undersized lobster tails, possession of two speared lobster, and spearfishing in the Upper Keys. The subject was subsequently taken to the Plantation Key Jail for processing and the diving gear was confiscated. 9