FWC Division of Law Enforcement
March 28 - April 3, 2008
This report represents some events the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) handled over the past week; however, it does not include all actions taken by the Division of Law Enforcement.
NORTHWEST REGION
SANTA ROSA COUNTY
On March 28, Officer David Jernigan arrested an individual on Deaton Bridge Road for an outstanding warrant.
On March 29, Officer David Jernigan teamed up with Corporal Mitch Golloher with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and patrolled the Blackwater River and wildlife management area. They located a subject in a campsite who seemed very reluctant to move from his seat. When the subject finally stood, a bag containing a drug pipe was exposed. The officers then discovered that the subject was wanted on a local warrant. The subject was transported to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office and booked on the warrant and the paraphernalia charge.
The owner of the sunken 100foot steel hull vessel, "Symphonia," was arrested on a warrant that Officer Howard Jones issued last month for a derelict vessel violation. The vessel owner was picked up by a Santa Rosa County deputy early last week and the judge released him on his own signature bond with a court date set later this month.
OKALOOSA COUNTY
On April 2, Officer Randall Brooks responded to a hunting accident in an area north of Crestview. Two men were hunting turkeys; one was an experienced turkey hunter and the other a novice. The experienced hunter left the other in a blind and when he returned, he saw the realistic gobbler decoy the other was using and shot it. His shot destroyed the decoy and peppered the other hunter sitting in the nearby blind. The injured man was treated for minor abrasions from the shot pellets and released. Investigations will be handling the case.
BAY COUNTY
Officer Joe Chambers worked the Econfina and the Choctawhatchee Wildlife Management Areas checking turkey hunters. He found two hunters that did not have the required turkey hunting permits. Citations were issued.
Officer Mark Clements tracked a subject to a ground blind where he found a hunter overlooking a large pile of corn. The hunter was in possession of turkey calls along with a pipe the hunter said he uses to smoke "meth" with. Citations were issued for hunting over bait, possession of drug paraphernalia and no turkey hunting permit.
Officer Mike Nobles stopped at the Cherokee Landing Bridge to inspect some fishers when he found one fisher had an outstanding arrest warrant from Washington County for failure to pay child support. The next day, Officer Nobles checked a fisher at the Deer Point Dam and found he had an outstanding arrest warrant from Calhoun County for violation of probation. In both instances, the individuals were booked into the Bay County Jail.
LEON COUNTY
Officer Billy Kemp teamed up with officers from Gadsden and Liberty counties to work a combined water patrol/turkey hunting detail on the Ochlockonee River. The two-day detail was successful by contacting both fishermen and hunters. One citation and nine warnings were issued for boating violations.
