Tales of the FWC

Some of these are funny, some are crazy, some are unbelievable but they all have one thing in common, they happened in Florida in the last two months and the FWC had to do something about it. Quite a few of these incidents show the amazing dedication these men and women have to our state. I salute you FWC officers everywhere.

MONROE COUNTY
Numerous officers responded to assist the US Coast Guard during a migrant recovery and landing incident south of Big Pine Key. Two migrants were returned to Cuba and three made land fall. Shortly afterward, a complaint south of Sombrero Light, sent numerous officers in search of a commercial trap vessel suspected in an aggravated assault complaint. The complainant told dispatch that subjects on board the vessel were operating recklessly, pointing a speargun at divers in the water and threw objects at crew and passengers aboard their diving vessel. The investigation continues.

HERNANDO COUNTY
On August 10, Officer Sean Smith and Lieutenant Kevin Grover located nine individuals in a closed portion of the Chassahowitzka WMA. A computer check revealed one of the subjects was designated as a sexual predator. The subject was questioned about his designation because there were juveniles among the group of people he was with. The subject admitted giving a friend’s name instead of his own, not knowing the friend was designated as a sexual offender. The subject was found to have three active warrants. He was arrested on the warrants and for providing false information to a law enforcement officer. All the subjects were cited for entering a closed area.

OKALOOSA COUNTY
On July 26, Officer Pete Rockwell responded to a complaint of a gill/entangling net in the water
in Choctawhatchee Bay. The caller described several people actively working the net. Because
of the tide status and unavailability of a vessel to reach the identified location by water, Officer
Rockwell chose to go by land. Upon arrival, he located the described vessel with several
people on board and through use of his binoculars could see they were actively working a gill
/entangling net. He waded in and cautiously worked his way across the mud flat, eventually
coming alongside of the vessel unnoticed. The surprised occupants turned out to be employees
of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who had scientific permits for research.

DUVAL COUNTY
On July 29, Officer Tim Sweat and Lieutenant Paul Graham performed fisheries inspections on
the Lem Turner Bridge. While Lieutenant Graham was checking fishermen on the bridge, a
female at the opposite end of the bridge hurriedly packed her things and started to leave.
Officer Sweat contacted her at the foot of the bridge and discovered that she was in possession
of nine undersize spotted sea trout. She was cited for possession of undersize sea trout and
over the possession limit. A warrants check revealed that she had an outstanding warrant for
driving on a suspended driver's license. She was turned over to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
and booked into jail.

PUTNAM COUNTY
On July 23, based on information obtained during an investigation that began in May 2007,
Investigator Ben Allen and Officer Troy Starling obtained an arrest warrant for a suspect for
armed felony trespass, illegal burning of land (2 counts), and taking deer during the closed
season. Investigator Allen, Officers Starling, Wayne Hargabus and Jeff Gier responded to
Roberts Ranch in Palatka and met with one of the hunt club members. He had picked up a
male subject on the property and given him a ride to one of the gates on the property and
obtained the man’s name. Investigator Allen recognized the name as someone who lived near
the drop-off point, and that he is currently on probation for taking deer during the closed season.
After dropping off the individual, the hunt club member found a garbage bag containing a freshly
cleaned deer.
The officers arrived on scene and showed the hunt club member a photo line up, from which he
was able to pick out the subject he picked up that morning. The officers collected meat samples
from the bag and found several sites where the suspect had set fires the night prior. They also
back tracked the suspect from where he was dropped off to his residence but were not able to
locate the suspect’s gun that day.
Approximately one week later, Investigator Allen and Officer Starling went back to the property.
They began searching the areas where the suspect had set the fires and at one of the locations
they found a .22 caliber rifle and spot light hidden under a patch of palmetto bushes. The rifle
had a cloth home made rifle sling that had several spots that appeared to be blood. The sling
and meat sample were taken to UF for DNA analysis. As the investigation continued, Officer
Starling found a piece of cloth in the suspect’s yard that matched the type of material used to
make the rifle sling. DNA results showed the spots on the sling were deer blood and they
matched the meat samples taken from the garbage bag.

On July 28, Officer Starling was on patrol in the Ocala WMA when he reached the ATV parking
area and saw two pick-up trucks spinning out and doing numerous doughnuts in the clay
parking lot. The trucks were driving so carelessly that one received a flat tire. The trucks did
significant damage and left deep ruts in the new parking lot. The drivers received citations for
damage to public land.

LEE COUNTY
On July 30, Lt. Gregory Stanley, Officer Scott Kirsch, Officer Scott Peterson, and Officer Brian
Cazalot worked a panther speed enforcement detail at Daniels Parkway Extension. A stop was
initiated on a vehicle traveling 66 in a 45 mph zone. The driver traveled for approximately one
mile before he pulled his vehicle over. When the driver stopped he threw a beer bottle out and
the vehicle struck the curb. The driver was asked to exit the vehicle to perform field sobriety
exercises, at which point he opened a prescription pill bottle of muscle relaxants and emptied
the bottle into his mouth. Shortly after being taken into custody the driver spit out 9 pills. An
ambulance responded and transported him to the emergency room. The driver was medically
cleared and booked into jail by Officer Peterson for resisting without violence and driving under
the influence. The driver submitted to a breath test four hours later of .105. Later in the detail,
Officer Kirsch and Officer Cazalot stopped a vehicle for traveling 73 in a 45 mph zone and
arrested the driver for a suspended driver’s license as a habitual traffic offender. In addition to
the two arrests, 14 citations were issued for vehicles traveling in excess of 20 mph over the
posted limit.

BAY COUNTY
Lieutenant Jay Chesser and Officer Mike Nobles were checking fishers and boaters at Deer
Point Lake when they observed an individual who was extremely nervous around the officers.
The source of his nervousness was found to be the cannabis he had in his back pocket. A
citation was issued

MONROE COUNTY
Twenty-four visiting FWC officers, investigators, K-9, and pilots worked numerous joint
enforcement details prior to and during the two day lobster sport season in the Keys. During the
weekend preceding the season, officers made sixty-four arrests for various lobster violations.
Plain clothes officers were instrumental in observing violations as they occurred and K-9’s
succeeded in detecting numerous hidden caches of illegal lobster. FWC air patrols assisted in
providing essential information to land and water based officers and provided support to
emergency missions that included one heart attack victim who was transported from Sawyer
Key to medical personnel on shore and a missing female diver off Geiger Key who was located
and returned to safety. Complete statistics for the sport season will be available soon.
Violators included recreational and commercial licensed fishermen.

COLUMBIA COUNTY
On July 5, while on water patrol on the Santa Fe River, Investigator Ken Holmes came across a
group of 18 juveniles and three adults in distress. They were approximately 3.5 miles into a 7
mile canoe trip. The group had encountered problems when one of the canoes capsized and
they could not right it. One of the juveniles was showing symptoms of heat exhaustion and one
of the counselors thought he had been bitten in the leg by a snake. Investigator Holmes passed
out water and fruit he had in his patrol vessel to the juveniles complaining of heat related
symptoms, righted the sunken canoe and examined the counselor’s leg which revealed he had
not been bitten, but may have got into some stinging nettle. Investigator Holmes escorted the
entire group back to the livery where they had rented the canoes and provided the livery
operator with some boating safety tips and responsibilities when renting vessels to
inexperienced customers.
On July 9, Officer Todd Hoyle received an anonymous complaint through dispatch concerning a
subject collecting a gopher tortoise from a roadway and placing it in his vehicle. The caller
relayed the subjects tag number. Officer Hoyle made contact with the subject who admitted to
possession of the protected species of tortoise. He pointed out a bucket that contained a freshly
cleaned carcass and the shell. The subject went into the house and returned with the meat that
he had soaking in a pot. He was issued a notice to appear and the evidence was seized.
On July 14, Officers Todd Hoyle and Leslie Sharp received an emergency call from dispatch
advising that a man had been struck by lightning while kayaking with his son on the Santa Fe
River near US 441. The son had reported that his father was unconscious. Officers Hoyle and
Sharp drove to the nearest point by land, commandeered a canoe since the water was too low
to launch the patrol vessel, and paddled up river for approximately 1 ½ miles. During this time,
Lieutenant’s Scott Kihei and David Ferguson, along with the High Springs Fire and Police
Departments, and the Alachua Sheriff’s Office, responded. Once Hoyle and Sharp made
contact, they discovered the victim was conscious and alert although he had several abrasions
on his head, chest and back. The man and his son had exited the river due to the heavy storm.
The lightning had struck near where they were standing. The jolt knocked the victim over and he
fell down the bank hitting his head on protruding cypress knees, knocking him unconscious.
After assessing his condition, they all paddled back down river to the awaiting EMS personnel
who transported the victim and his son to the hospital for further medical treatment.

DUVAL COUNTY
On July 15, Officer Alex O'Britis observed two all terrain vehicles (ATV) enter Pope Duval Fish
Management Area and head toward Cecil Field. Cecil Field is city property that is clearly posted
for no trespassing. Officer O'Britis tracked the ATV's to the entrance of Cecil Field where he
noticed they went around the fence and over a hill to enter. Officer O'Britis hid his truck down
the road and walked back to the entrance on foot and waited for the ATV's to return.
Approximately one hour later, he observed the suspect ATV's heading toward the entrance and
waited until the ATV's came over the hill before stopping them. The two subjects were cited for
trespass on posted property.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
On July 13, Officer Kelly Hite responded to a complaint of a citizen cutting alligator hooks which
were being set by a licensed FWC alligator trapper. The hooks were set to catch nuisance
alligators. Officer Hite met the trapper at the scene in Sun City and located witnesses who had
observed a man cut the hooks. Officer Hite went to the residence of the man who was irate but
readily admitted to cutting the hooks on three separate occasions. He retrieved a hook from his
trash can which he had cut the day before. The man stated he was cutting the hooks because
he thought trapping alligators was inhumane. Officer Hite explained that tampering with the
hooks was costing the trapper money in equipment, time, and fuel to come reset another hook.
The man provided a written statement, and was charged with harassment of a licensed alligator
trapper, petit theft and criminal mischief.

MONROE COUNTY
Officer Seth Wingard and Lieutenant William Burns responded to a report of a run away vessel
involving one injury. When they arrived, they observed a small, unoccupied skiff traveling in
circles. Both occupants had already been recovered by a Good Samaritan. Occupants of the
skiff, a husband and wife, had been motoring when the tiller handle broke. The motor turned
sharply with the free end of the tiller handle stopping abruptly against a bench seat causing both
occupants to be thrown from the vessel. The vessel circled three times and each time, the
couple successfully avoided being struck by diving under their run away boat. On the fourth
pass, the wife was becoming tired and was struck as the vessel passed overhead. Her shirt
was ripped off by the outboard motor and was still attached to the skeg when the officers finally
caught the vessel. The wife received minor injuries but refused medical treatment. Officer
William Green assisted in stopping the run away vessel.

A plea of guilty by a local resident resulted in 180 days incarceration and 2 years probation, and
an order prohibiting him from being in or upon state waters for the next five years. The plea was
entered as a result of a resource arrest made by Officers Rama Shuster and James Johnson
two weeks ago in conjunction with an active warrant arrest. The officer had observed the man
spear fishing and the investigation revealed the diver to be in possession of spiny lobster, 30 of
which were out of season, 29 were speared, and 26 were undersize. He was also charged with
over the bag limit and undersize mangrove snapper, and possession of a speared goliath
grouper. The officer arrested the same fisherman the previous year on similar charges involving
crawfish and stone crab violations that resulted in the additional warrant arrest.

South Region K-9 and Community Relations Officers
On July 15, Officer Brandon Ennis and K-9 Biloxi were again patrolling in Dade County. Officer
Ennis checked two male subjects that were fishing in the Frog Pond agricultural area. The
suspects admitted to a good morning of fishing, perhaps too good. The individuals were in
possession of four over sized bass. The fish were still alive. Officer Ennis returned the fish to
the pond and issued the defendants citations.
Officer Ennis and K-9 Biloxi continued their patrol in Dade County. Officer Ennis observed a
vehicle parked off the side of the road where two adult males and two juveniles were shooting
doves with a pellet gun. The suspects were from Homestead. K-9 Biloxi completed an area
search and did not find any more birds. Officer Stiffler assisted and issued citations. The gun
and doves were seized for evidence.
Officer Tom Hill and K-9 Jasmine were on patrol in Monroe County near Indian Key. Officer Hill
observed individuals snorkeling with out a dive flag in the Lignumuile Aquatic Preserve. He
slipped through the mangroves to get a closer look since this area in the Keys is permanently
closed to spear fishing. Officer Hill observed an individual using a spear gun and approached
the suspect. Citations were issued to the individual and the spear gun was seized.

OKALOOSA COUNTY
On July 7, Officers David Jernigan and Joe Murphy were on patrol on Hurricane Lake when they
observed a subject fishing and conducted a license check. While doing so, they observed a
cooler full of beer. The subject stated that it was his beer, but that he did not drink any of it yet.
He stated that he was not yet 21 years of age, and he later stated that he had been drinking
beer since he was 16 and was appalled that he was going to be charged for underage
possession of alcohol. Regardless, he was issued a notice to appear for the violation.