New York Outdoor News Cuffs & Collars – June 29, 2018

(Editor’s note: A criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the state of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.)

Duck ID is key
(Suffolk County)

On Jan. 20, ECO Sean Rockefeller responded to a complaint of duck hunters shooting too close to homes near the Bayport Marina. Upon his arrival, Rockefeller observed three individuals hunting just off the shore in a small boat. One of the three hunters appeared to throw two ducks into the weeds. ECO Christopher Amato was called to assist and the officers approached and interviewed the trio. The ECOs asked what the hunters threw into the weeds. The hunters confessed that they had killed one scaup over their limit, as well as a second bird they could not identify, after Amato retrieved the birds. The ECO returned with both discarded birds, a scaup and a pie-billed grebe, which is a protected, non-game species. The three hunters were charged with taking ducks over the limit, one hunter was charged with unlawfully taking a protected bird, and two were charged with failing to wear a personal flotation device (PFD). All of the summonses were returnable to Suffolk County First District Court.

Security detail
(Seneca County)

On Jan. 20, Lt. William Powell and ECO Shawn Dussault assisted the Seneca Falls Police Department, New York State Police, and Seneca County Sheriff’s Department with a security and public safety detail at the 2018 Women’s March in Seneca Falls. More than 10,000 people participated in the event in the small village. DLE was requested to assist with a marked UTV, which proved to be the perfect tool for this detail. In addition to traffic and crowd control, the UTV was utilized to evacuate an injured woman from the interior of the crowd where traditional emergency equipment could not access. The woman was taken three blocks away to a waiting ambulance, which then took her to a local hospital for evaluation. 

Illegal alligator mount for sale (Westchester County)

On Jan. 21, ECOs Craig Tompkins, Chad Eyler, and Kevin Wamsley seized a 5-foot-long alligator mount listed for sale on Facebook. Wamsley had received a tip from a friend concerning an ad in New Castle advertising the alligator for $500. Wamsley communicated with the individual selling the alligator and set up a time to meet. The ECOs patrolled to the location at the agreed upon time and met with the seller. The seller was issued an administrative ticket for illegally offering the alligator mount for sale and the mount was seized as evidence.

A blatant violation
(Niagara County)

On Jan. 25, ECOs Jamie Powers and George Scheer were on patrol in Niagara County when they observed a truck transporting construction and demolition debris that was not secured or covered. As the ECOs followed the truck, the officers observed four pieces of wood fall off the vehicle. Once stopped, the driver of the vehicle stated that the debris was from a home remodeling project and that he was transporting it to the transfer station. The driver also said that even though he was not going far, he was not aware that covering the solid waste was required. The ECOs issued the driver a ticket for an uncovered load of solid waste returnable to Lockport City Court. 

Tidal wetlands permit violation
(Richmond County)

On Jan. 26, ECO Michael Wozniak met with George Stadnik of DEC’s Marine Resources to view a proposed building site along tidal wetlands on Staten Island. The owner of the property has plans and permits to build along the waterfront. However, after walking the property, the ECO noted that there had been several violations of the permit conditions. DEC issued a Notice of Violation to the property owner for clearing tidal wetlands shrub vegetation along the agreed upon buffer zone.

Small game, big problem
(Sullivan County)

On Jan. 21, ECO Tom Koepf received a call from the New York State Police barracks in Liberty regarding small-game hunters trespassing on a property in Liberty. Koepf responded to the location and met the troopers and the three hunters. One of the hunters said that they had been hunting the property on the side of the road where the complaint originated, and that he had taken a rabbit with one shot. The hunter also stated that after he fired, someone came out of a house nearby and began yelling that they were trespassing. The hunter led the officers down a power line, following his own footprints in the snow to show where he had fired. He then pointed to a location where he said he was standing when he shot, which was fairly close to several nearby residences. The two officers searched the area but were unable to find the spent shotgun shell casing, which seemed odd given the fact that there was undisturbed snow all around. Koepf contacted ECO Ricky Wood to ask for his assistance with K-9 Deming, as he wanted to verify exactly where the hunter had discharged his firearm. Wood arrived with K-9 Deming, but Deming was unable to locate any spent shell casings in the area. Wood began to work Deming in other areas along the power line and after a short time, Deming discovered three spent 20-gauge shotshell casings, which matched the rounds the hunter was using. The location was within 200 feet of the complainant’s home. When presented with the evidence, the hunter admitted to firing three shots from that location. The hunter was issued a ticket for discharging a firearm within 500 feet of an occupied dwelling, returnable Liberty Town Court. 

Out of season stripers
(Rockland County)

On Jan. 29, ECOs Melissa Burgess and Corey Hornicek patrolled Piermont Pier in Rockland County after receiving an anonymous complaint that striped bass were being kept during the closed season. Upon their arrival, the ECOs observed four male subjects fishing from shore. Hornicek interviewed two individuals who both possessed valid fishing licenses and found nothing amiss, while Burgess interviewed the other two subjects, learning that one had never possessed a fishing license and the other had an expired license. Both subjects claimed to have only been fishing for 20 minutes with no luck. After surveying the area, four illegal stripers were recovered. The subject with the expired fishing license admitted to catching one striper he had hidden under the ice. The subject without a license admitted that he had caught three stripers. The four striped bass were seized and the men were issued three tickets returnable to Piermont Village Court.

Doe taken out of season
(Erie County)

On Jan. 30, DEC’s Division of Law Enforcement was contacted by a man who witnessed two men shoot a deer out of a pickup truck in the town of Concord. A doe carcass was left about 60 yards from the road where they had shot. ECOs Timothy Machnica and Mark Mazurkiewicz arrived on scene and located the deer carcass and an open can of beer. The ECOs’ investigation led to two town of Concord men, who initially denied involvement. Two days later, both suspects came forward and gave statements to the officers, admitting that they had shot the deer. Each of the subjects was charged with illegally taking a wild deer, taking wildlife with the aid of a motor vehicle, taking wildlife from a public highway, possessing a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, and discharging a firearm on a public highway. The charges were returnable in Concord Justice Court, where both men faced possible penalties of up to $5,375 and revocation of their hunting privileges.

Too much luck fishing
(Essex County)

On Feb. 6, ECO Jeff Hovey was patrolling ice fishing activity on Lincoln Pond in the town of Elizabethtown when he spoke to a fisherman who had a large German shepherd with him on the ice. At first, all seemed to check out. The fisherman had a valid license, was using legal tip-ups, and showed Hovey several northern pike he had caught within the daily possession and size limit. The subject claimed that these were the only fish he had caught. However, Hovey heard flopping sounds coming from a bucket in the back of the man’s UTV. Inside the bucket the ECO discovered a largemouth bass and several more northern pike. The final tally of the fisherman’s catch was two yellow perch, eight northern pike, and one largemouth bass, resulting in Hovey issuing the fisherman appearance tickets for taking bass out of season and three fish over the five-fish possession limit for northern pike. 

A shot leads to an arrest
(Suffolk County)

On Jan. 21, ECO Tim Fay was en route to assist ECO Christopher Amato with a violation in the town of Brookhaven when he heard multiple shots coming from nearby woods. A quick call to Amato confirmed the shots were not related to his work, so Fay entered the woods to determine the origin of the shots. A short distance away, he observed a man with a long gun going into a trailer parked at a construction yard. Fay identified himself and asked the man what he was shooting at. The man stated he was shooting his .22 caliber rifle in a sand pit. Fay explained to the man that it was a crime to possess a rifle afield on Long Island, secured the rifle, and went with the man to the sand pit to see where he was shooting. DEC dispatch determined that the man had an active arrest warrant out of New York City and multiple felony convictions. Investigator Kevin Cummings and Amato responded to Fay’s location to assist as Fay arrested the man for possessing a rifle afield on Long Island and criminal possession of a weapon, both misdemeanors. The defendant was processed for the arrest and held overnight at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. The following morning, he was transported to Suffolk County District Court for arraignment and then picked up by the NYPD on the outstanding warrant. 

Junkyard piles and leaking parts
(Westchester County)

On Jan. 31, ECOs Dustin Dainack, Craig Tompkins, Chad Eyler, Kevin Wamsley, and Aaron Bonilla, along with Lt. Meg Filmer and members of the Mount Vernon police and fire departments, conducted a saturation detail focusing on auto repair shops and dismantlers. At one of the sites the team inspected, a vehicle dismantling yard, ECOs found mountains of engines and transmissions leaking oil, huge piles of lead acid batteries, waste tires, burn barrels of trash next to oil and gas tanks, and cars stacked haphazardly on one another. The ground was caked in mud and oil. Dainack issued five summonses to the business for failing to store lead acid batteries as required, failing to collect, store, and treat vehicle fluids as required, depositing noisome and unwholesome substances on a highway, open burning of solid waste, and failure to prevent solid waste residuals from migrating off site. In addition, the City of Mount Vernon Fire Department issued multiple fire code violations. Dainack and DEC staff will revisit the site to ensure it is cleaned and brought to compliance.

More than just antlers
(Richmond County)

On Feb. 4, ECOs Taylor Della Rocco and Mary Grose responded to a call from a member of the public who had been hunting for shed deer antlers with a friend on Staten Island when they found a camouflage blanket wrapped around a box of weapons hidden in the woods. Della Rocco and Grose located the plastic box, which was painted tan and wrapped in a camouflage blanket. It contained a paintball gun, multiple air-powered firearms, a small hand-held crossbow, a flare gun, several homemade knives, switchblades, and box of .22 caliber rifle rounds. The ECOs called the New York Police Department and turned the weapons over to be itemized and secured as evidence. The ECOs suspect that the owner of the items may have been hunting illegally in the area. The investigation will continue.     

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