Highlights: January 2010

Northern Region Highlights

While inspecting two waterfowl hunters on the last day of duck season, CO Holmes found one hunter to be in possession of ten lead shot shells and the second to be in possession of two shotgun slugs. Later in the afternoon at the same location, the officer encountered the same two individuals, now with a third hunter, hunting waterfowl after hours. The third hunter was also hunting waterfowl without a HIP number. The appropriate complaints were signed.

Lt. Panico and CO Sutton responded to a complaint of ice fishing violations on a local pond. The officers located and inspected two fishermen who were in possession of their daily limit of chain pickerel. The officers then noticed a pile of snow and ice near the fishermen’s location. Upon further inspection, the officers located seven additional pickerel buried in the snow. Several of the fish were also under the legal size limit. Both individuals received summonses for possessing fish over the daily limit and under the legal size limit.

CO Holmes responded to a call from a resident who located a bait pile near their home and believed someone might be hunting there without their permission. Upon arrival at the residence, the officer observed vultures and a fresh gut pile on the property. Later in the day, the officer was able to determine who might be responsible for shooting the deer, and proceeded to his residence and found the individual washing blood out of the bed of his pick up truck. The individual admitted to killing a ½ rack buck and didn’t want to “waste” his buck stub on it, so he gave it to a friend who used his tag to register it in a different zone. The friend then took the deer to a butcher shop in PA. The officer proceeded to the shop and seized the deer which was donated to the food bank. Both individuals were charged with the tagging violations.

Lt. Panico and CO Kuechler assisted the Livingston Twp. PD with a complaint of deer hunting activity in their town on Christmas Eve. The two officers interviewed the suspected hunter who admitted to killing two deer on township property with a shotgun. The two deer were seized and summonses for taking deer out of season and failing to tag and register the deer were issued.

Lt. Applegate and CO Paul watched a group of four goose hunters picking up their decoys at the end of the day. The officers proceeded to their blind and observed there were only two hunters remaining. The hunters said the other two individuals ran when they saw the officers approaching because they didn’t have hunting licenses. Lt.Applegate was able to locate the two individuals, along with their dog, hiding in a nearby hedgerow. The officer was able to determine that one individual was in possession of a loaded firearm after legal hours and within 450 feet of a safety zone. Upon completing the inspection of all four hunters, it was determined that they had already hidden a daily limit of geese in their truck. Summonses were issued for nine geese over the limit, two for hunting without a valid license, two for hunting without a NJ state waterfowl stamp, one for hunting without federal waterfowl stamp, one for safety zone violation and two for interference with a Conservation Officer.

CO Sutton assisted the New Jersey State Police with a request for a 4 wheel drive vehicle to assist in an ice rescue. An individual was walking his dog on a local pond when both broke through the ice. The officers and rescue divers were able to rescue the dog but unable to recover the 59 year old man.  
 
Lt. Williamson investigated a call from an individual who inquired about registering a ten point buck he had killed a week earlier. The individual claimed to have shot the deer on the last day of six day firearm season and it was recovered by his hunting companion during the muzzleloader season a week later. The caller said the deer was at his friend’s residence. He advised that although he knew his friend’s name he didn’t know where he lived. Senior Comm. Operator Colao was able to locate an address for the officer who responded to the residence. Upon his arrival, the officer observed vultures as well as a fresh gut pile in the individual’s yard. The officer interviewed the individual and was able to locate the ten point deer head in question as well as two other untagged buck heads on the front porch. The individual admitted to killing the deer on his property and not properly tagging or registering them. All the appropriate summonses were issued.

CO Paul responded to a complaint from a hunting club who encountered an individual in the woods field dressing four antlerless deer. The officer arrived at the scene and interviewed the individual. The individual explained that he had shot two deer across the road and followed them into the woods. He said he jumped two deer, and believing they were the same two he had just shot, he shot them also. It was however, two different deer. Upon inspection of the hunter’s credentials, it was determined he did not possess a valid shotgun permit. All four deer were seized and delivered to a food bank and summonses were issued for hunting without a valid permit and taking over the limit of deer.     

Central Region Highlights

CO Martiak recently reached a settlement in a case involving the unlawful possession of four alligators in Marlboro, Monmouth County.  The owner of the four alligators, a repeat offender of unlawful wildlife possession, agreed in court to pay $16,500.00 for the illegal possession of the alligators.  Included in the penalty was $2,400.00 for restitution to the State for the handling and relocation of the alligators.

The Marlboro P.D. received a 911 call from a homeowner complaining about a hunter shooting late and possibly too close to their home.  The call had been placed 27minutes after legal shooting hours.  CO Martiak spoke to the homeowner and determined that the hunter had shot 25 minutes after legal hours.  The resident had observed the hunter with the deer, a very large 10-point buck and not wearing any hunter orange.  The homeowner was able to give a description of the hunter, which matched a hunter that CO Martiak was familiar with.  CO Martiak went to the local check station the following morning and caught the hunter at the check station with the deer.  The hunter was charged with hunting after legal hours and not wearing hunter orange while hunting. 

While on the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, Officers Tomlin, O’Rourke and Lt Sich stopped to inspect a large group of hunters. When first encountered, Officer Tomlin noticed that one individual had broken away from the group and hurried back to his pickup truck. When the officer caught up with him, he noticed that the hunter had a deer in the bed of his truck with a doe tag attached.  Next to the deer was a small handsaw.  Upon further inspection, the officer noticed that the antlers had been sawn off.  It was determined by the officer that the subject did not have a valid buck permit. Officer Tomlin then noticed another individual frantically trying to fill out a deer tag, even though he was not in possession of a deer. The officer quickly realized that there was another deer hidden in the woods and was later able to locate the untagged deer concealed under a fallen tree.  Complaints were filed on the two individuals.

Officer Szulecki and Lt Sich responded to a complaint of illegal deer hunting in Howell Township. The complaint alleged that the hunters were utilizing ATVs. When the officers arrived on scene, the subjects had already left the field and were now inside their home.  As the officers exited their patrol vehicle, they noticed a number of ATV’s in the yard that matched the description given by the complainant. Officer Szulecki noticed fresh deer blood and hair on one of the ATVs as Lt Sich made contact with the residents. At first the suspects denied any knowledge or involvement related to the complaint, but after being confronted with the blood on the ATV and the blood visible on the garage floor, they complied with the officer’s request and produced the deer carcass and relinquished the butchered meat that was kept inside the home. Both subjects finally admitted to illegally possessing the deer and were charged accordingly.

Southern Region Highlights

CO Toppin, while patrolling Wharton State Forest, one evening during January received information that shots had been fired in the area earlier. Winter bow was the only deer season open at the time. CO Toppin then went to the nearest check station, where he encountered a hunter exiting the check station with deer possession seal in hand. The ensuing interview yielded information and the firearm used to kill the deer. The appropriate summonses were issued.

While on a routine patrol CO Toppin came across a group of 5 hunters driving a portion of Winslow WMA.  An inspection of licenses produced two individuals who had failed to obtain their 2010 licenses, as well as several apparent violations involving previously harvested deer. An interview of both individuals produced information that led to the filing of numerous complaints for untagged deer.

Conservation Officer Ely received a call from a trapper regarding a stolen trap on Tuckahoe WMA.   The trapper had observed two trucks parked on the dike road next to where he had traps set.  The trapper was able to approach the trucks from a side road and observed the occupants of the trucks pick up a live trap from the marsh and put it in their truck. The trapper was able to obtain a partial tag and contacted Officer Ely.  CO Ely decided to patrol the WMA early the next morning and while on the dike observed a truck that matched the suspect truck and the license tag came within one letter of the tag given by the trapper. CO Ely stopped the truck and questioned the driver regarding the incident.  The driver immediately tried to explain that the trap had been found abandoned, although it was removed from the marsh with fresh bait in it and the trappers tag attached.  The driver then went with CO Ely to a friend’s house that was holding the trap.  A summons was issued for tending traps of another.

A joint waterfowl operation was conducted in January by District 6 Conservation Officers, USFWS Special Agents and several National Wildlife Refuge Officers. Over the three day operation, the officers conducted plain clothes surveillance on several commercial duck hunting operations, as well as some general hunting parties. Uniformed patrols were also made on both land and sea. The area of operation ran from Wildwood in Cape May County up to Great Bay in Atlantic County. Poor weather, in the form of ice packed ramps and the hunting grounds, hampered the enforcement effort to some degree. Although activity was light due to the weather, intelligence gained from the effort has generated interest in a similar effort during the 2010 – 2011 season.

CO Vazquez received information regarding the shooting of a deer at night in Estell Manor, Atlantic County.  The information indicated the suspect’s name and the town he was from. CO Vazquez was able to locate the suspect’s address, and assisted by CO Ciraolo, went to the residence to interview the man.  At the residence CO Vazquez immediately noticed deer blood on the bumper and the back window of the truck.  The suspect initially stated that he had killed two deer in zone 42 near his house, but the interview determined he killed the deer in question in Estell Manor, which is zone 46. It was determined that he had killed the deer after legal hours. The appropriate complaints were filed.
                       
Marine Region Highlights

On 12/2/09 CO Dravis inspected the FV Jaime Mae, a commercial otter trawl vessel, at the Point Pleasant Co-op dock. The vessel had just returned from an offshore trip targeting spiny dogfish and offloaded its catch. Among other species, they had off-loaded their 200 pound by catch limit of summer flounder. CO Dravis conducted an inspection of the onboard fish holds and observed two striped bass buried in ice within a large fish tote. CO Dravis dug further into the ice and found an additional 102 pounds of summer flounder and 36 pounds of winter flounder. CO Dravis issued summonses for exceeding the summer flounder by catch limit, possession of undersized striped bass and taking striped bass by means of a net. A federal verbal warning was issued for possession of winter flounder caught in federal waters. The illegal summer flounder were sold to the co-op and a check was seized by CO Dravis.

A case was recently settled concerning the party fishing vessel Big Mohawk. During the course of the investigation, undercover COs observed numerous violations aboard this vessel on August 15, 2009. Guilty pleas resulted in the collection of a total of $2,340.00 plus costs. The vessel also received a 60 day suspension of its fillet permit for the months of June and July 2010, during the intended recreational summer flounder season.

On January 2, 2010 Conservation Officers’ James and Petruccelli apprehended the FV Abracadabra for possession of black sea bass and summer flounder in excess of New Jersey’s commercial landing limit.  The officers determined that the captain of the vessel had harvested and possessed double the landing limit of both species after a five day trip near the Hudson Canyon area of the Atlantic Ocean.  The vessel landed and offloaded one day’s limit on January 1, 2010 then left the dock on the morning of January 2, 2010. On the 2nd, the vessel’s captain sailed the FV Abracadabra offshore in an effort to give the appearance of a harvest trip only to return to the dock in under 15hrs.  Officers James and Petruccelli boarded the vessel upon its return to the dock, interviewed the captain and seized the excess fish landed. The appropriate State summonses were issued for the violations.

On January 3, 2010, CO Petruccelli boarded the FV Catherine Lane at Cold Spring Fish and Supply in Cape May. The FV Catherine Lane had been at the dock since January 1, 2010 awaiting the opening of New Jersey’s 2010 summer flounder quota which didn’t allow landing until 0001hrs on January 3rd.  Because the vessel had requested and was granted an emergency landing prior to the fluke season opening, they were under orders to wait for approval prior to their offload.  During the supervised offload, CO Petrruccelli documented 5,380lbs of summer flounder from this vessel, 380lbs over the trip limit of 5,00lbs.  CO Petruccelli seized the overage and issued the appropriate summonses to the vessel’s captain and owner.

Training Unit Highlights

Lt. Williamson and Captain Brown attended a one day training seminar on the use of the Guardian 2000 covert surveillance system.    The seminar consisted of a 3 hour block of classroom instruction covering the various types of uses and applications of the camera system in a covert setting.  The classroom portion was followed by 3 hours of field practical exercise.  This training was hosted by the USFWS at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refugee.

Captain Brown and Chief Cussen attended a meeting of the NJ Port Partners/NJ Maritime Sub-Sector Working Group.  The meeting was hosted jointly by the State Office of Homeland Security and Protection as well as the State Department of Transportation.   The meeting was to better address ways in which the public and private sectors can work together in providing safe maritime ports of entry to our State particularly through Federal funding initiatives.