MARINE DISTRICT
Fishing Arrests
On January 1st Sergeant Healy was on vessel patrol in Long Island Sound near Black Point, East Lyme when he checked two individuals engaged in lobstering activity. The two men, one from Massachusetts and one from Connecticut were hauling their lobster pots and were found to be in violation of numerous fisheries regulations. Both individuals were charged with Lobstering without a license, Illegal possession of undersize lobsters (4 counts), Failure to number/identify traps with license number (8 counts) and fishing lobster traps without degradable vent fasteners. Both were given court dates of January 13th to appear in Superior in New London.
While on routine patrol of Milford Reservoir in Milford on the 8th of the month, Officers Ulkus and Samorajczyk encountered two brothers that were ice fishing. When asked for their licenses they both admitted to the officers that they “didn’t get them yet”. Further investigation revealed the brothers had been warned one year prior to this encounter for exactly the same charges by another Officer. They were issued infractions for Sportfishing without a license.
Boat Launch Arrest
On the 9th of January Officer Reilly was on routine patrol of the Branford River State Boat Launch in Branford conducting surveillance (with binoculars) of a suspicious vehicle occupied by two people. Officer Reilly observed the couple smoking from a glass pipe and approached the vehicle. She immediately detected a strong odor similar to burning plastic and saw a pipe on the floor of the vehicle between the occupants. Further investigation revealed that the couple had been engaged in smoking crack cocaine to which they admitted. The male driver and the female passenger were checked for prior criminal histories and both had lengthy criminal records. The female had pending charges for burglary and larceny. Officer Reilly seized the pipe with residue and arrested the driver for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operating a Motor Vehicle without a license and Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch. The female was given a verbal warning for Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch. Branford Police acted as backup to Officer Reilly and advised they had numerous burglaries in the area and they were familiar with the driver. The female was given a verbal warning for Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch and the male was given a court date and released on a promise to appear on the 19th in Superior in New Haven for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operating a Motor Vehicle without a License and Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch.
Hunting Arrest
On the 22nd of January Officers Ulkus and Samorajczyk were dispatched to an active deer hunting complaint at an office campus property in West Haven. The complainant believed that an individual who parked his car nearby was illegally hunting deer as no permission is given out. The Officers followed a set of fresh footprints into the wooded area and found a 58 year old man actively bow hunting deer. He did not have a valid 2011 license and also lacked the written permission necessary to hunt deer on private land. He was arrested for Illegal Deer Hunting without Archery Deer Permit and Archery Hunting Private Land without Written Consent with a court date of February 3rd in Superior Court in Milford.
Public Safety Assists
During the month of January, Marine District Officers participated in 36 Public Safety Assists. Most of them were winter storm related events for stuck, disabled and crashed vehicles but other incidents included missing people, trees blocking roads and an armored car robbery in Stonington, in which Officer Tavares participated.
WESTERN DISTRICT
EnCon Police assist State Police on interstate highways
On Friday January 7th, during the afternoon and evening a snowstorm struck western Connecticut. The speed of snow accumulation and the resulting road conditions were such that New York was forced to close I-84 just over the state line. This created traffic problems back into Connecticut as far east as Southbury. ConnDOT quickly became overwhelmed trying to plow the snow as I-84 came to a standstill. There were numerous spinouts, accidents and tractor trailer jackknife accidents on the highway which prevented plows from getting through stranding motorists throughout the area on the highway. The State Police quickly reached point where they could not respond to all the calls for assistance from stranded motorists as Troopers were being bogged down in the snow. The State Police needed assistance getting to stranded motorists on the highway and called for the EnCon Police to help. Sgt Keith Schneider, Sgt Mark Shaw, Officers Sean Buckley, Keith Williams, Ralph Concepcion and Paul Hilli responded. Officers Hilli and Williams brought an ATV and snowmobile to I-84 while Officers Buckley and Concepcion responded directly to the highway along with Sgt.’s Shaw and Schneider.
As the evening wore on these officers had a tremendous impact on the safety of the motoring public stranded on the highway by going vehicle to vehicle checking the well being of the occupants using the snowmobile, ATV and four wheel drive trucks. The quick response and actions of the EnCon Police were noted by Governor Malloy when he contacted DEP Commissioner Marrella while preparing for further severe weather approaching the state.
On Wednesday January 12th, another major snowstorm struck Connecticut with leaving over 2 feet of snow in areas of the state. EnCon Police officers again responded to the interstate highways and provided assistance to the State Police with numerous stranded vehicles and accidents.
Subaru stuck on snowmobile trail
On January 10th, EnCon Police Officer Erin Crossman responded to a report of a Subaru Legacy stuck in the snow on a snowmobile trail in Peoples State Forest in Barkhamsted. Officer Crossman located the vehicle which required a tractor and two tow trucks to pull it out of the snow. Officer Crossman arrested the operator for illegal use of a forest trail.
Illegal trapper arrested
On January 15th, EnCon Police Officer Ed Yescott received information from a Connecticut State Trooper regarding a vehicle that he had observed in Harwinton containing a number of smooth wire traps. Officer Yescott located the vehicle parked on a road in Harwinton and observed tracks in the snow leading from the vehicle into the woods.
Officer Yescott followed the tracks into a swamp adjacent to the Naugatuck River. Officer Yescott found a smooth wire trap in a bucket set on the bank. This set was sprung, however the trap was not touching the water as required and there was no name on the trap, also required. Officer Yescott continued to follow the trail and found another 330 size smooth wire trap set in the stream bed, half out of the water. A trap of this size is required to be completely under the water to avoid an inadvertent catch. This trap did have the name and address on it as required. Following the trail further Officer Yescott found a 280 smooth wire trap which was set directly in and on a beaver lodge, the trap did not have a name on it. Traps of all shapes and sized must be set at least ten feet from a beaver lodge. Officer Yescott continued following the trail, out of the swamp into the woods and found two separate illegal snares set on runs. All five traps found by Officer Yescott were set in some form of illegal manner. After seizing all the traps, Officer Yescott and Sgt. Mark Shaw went to the home of the person named on one of the seized traps.
The subject admitted that he knew his sets were illegal. He said that he was targeting coyotes with the snares and he knew that he needed to take a separate and special trapping class to land trap coyotes and that he knew snares were illegal. The subject also admitted that he did not have any written permission to trap on the property and only had verbal permission from an adjacent land owner to "do whatever he wanted" on their property. He also admitted to knowing that he could not set a trap on a beaver lodge. Officer Yescott arrested the subject for four counts of not having his name on his traps; five counts of trapping without written permission of the landowner; three counts of having traps set out of the water; two counts of using snares; two counts of illegal coyote land trapping; and one count of trapping within ten feet of a beaver lodge.
Arrest made for dirtbike with mutilated identification number
On April 11,, 2010, EnCon Police Officers Keith Williams and Sean Buckley located a subject illegally riding an unregistered dirtbike in Naugatuck State Forest in Naugatuck. Upon examining the dirtbike Officer Williams determined that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) had been mutilated. The dirtbike was seized and the subject was charged in the field for operating an unregistered ATV. The subject provided paperwork with an alleged VIN number for the machine. A check on the VIN number provided revealed it was improper and out of sequence. The Connecticut State Police Auto Theft Unit assisted in the investigation by performing an acid lift to try and raise the VIN on the dirtbike with negative results. As a result of his investigation, Officer Williams obtained an arrest warrant for the subject for possession of a motor vehicle with a mutilated VIN. The subject surrendered himself for arrest on January 27th.
EASTERN DISTRICT
On 1/2/2011, EnCon Police Officer Golet responded to a complaint of a dog caught in a leg hold trap in the Town of East Hampton. The dog had received minor injuries and was taken to a local veterinarian. Upon his arrival, Officer Golet located the trap and after conducting his investigation he located the suspected trapper. After interviewing the subject Officer Golet determined that the accused did not have a trapping license, did not have written permission of the landowner and had an illegal land set. The accused was issued a summons for the charges and will have to appear in the Middletown court.
On 1/10/2011, EnCon Police Officer Lindo responded to a complaint of a possible burglary in progress at Sunrise Resort State Park in East Haddam. A passerby had witnessed a male trying to gain access to the main office. Upon Officer Lindo’s arrival he discovered an unoccupied pickup truck, bearing a West Virginian registration, parked at the park’s entrance. A quick search of the immediate area for the suspect had negative results. EnCon Officer Golet and CSP personnel responded to assist. Shortly thereafter the suspect who was the owner of the pickup truck was located. It was determined that the subject did not commit a burglary but did admit to breaking a window. He was taken into custody and transported to CSP- Troop K and processed for the charges of Criminal Mischief and violation of hours of operation. The subject was arraigned in court the following day.
On 1/26/2011 at approximately 6:20 PM, EnCon Police Officers Stone, Ruggiero, Wojcik and CSP Troopers responded to Pachaug Pond in Griswold for a complaint of a snowmobile vs. pedestrian accident. Upon arrival it was determined that an individual was shoveling the pond surface to create a skating rink when a snowmobile stopped and talked to him. The snowmobile left the area and returned at which time he struck the person shoveling. Both subjects were injured and transported to Backus hospital. EnCon Police officers are currently investigating the case.
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Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police
Fishing Arrests
On January 1st Sergeant Healy was on vessel patrol in Long Island Sound near Black Point, East Lyme when he checked two individuals engaged in lobstering activity. The two men, one from Massachusetts and one from Connecticut were hauling their lobster pots and were found to be in violation of numerous fisheries regulations. Both individuals were charged with Lobstering without a license, Illegal possession of undersize lobsters (4 counts), Failure to number/identify traps with license number (8 counts) and fishing lobster traps without degradable vent fasteners. Both were given court dates of January 13th to appear in Superior in New London.
While on routine patrol of Milford Reservoir in Milford on the 8th of the month, Officers Ulkus and Samorajczyk encountered two brothers that were ice fishing. When asked for their licenses they both admitted to the officers that they “didn’t get them yet”. Further investigation revealed the brothers had been warned one year prior to this encounter for exactly the same charges by another Officer. They were issued infractions for Sportfishing without a license.
Boat Launch Arrest
On the 9th of January Officer Reilly was on routine patrol of the Branford River State Boat Launch in Branford conducting surveillance (with binoculars) of a suspicious vehicle occupied by two people. Officer Reilly observed the couple smoking from a glass pipe and approached the vehicle. She immediately detected a strong odor similar to burning plastic and saw a pipe on the floor of the vehicle between the occupants. Further investigation revealed that the couple had been engaged in smoking crack cocaine to which they admitted. The male driver and the female passenger were checked for prior criminal histories and both had lengthy criminal records. The female had pending charges for burglary and larceny. Officer Reilly seized the pipe with residue and arrested the driver for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operating a Motor Vehicle without a license and Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch. The female was given a verbal warning for Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch. Branford Police acted as backup to Officer Reilly and advised they had numerous burglaries in the area and they were familiar with the driver. The female was given a verbal warning for Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch and the male was given a court date and released on a promise to appear on the 19th in Superior in New Haven for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Operating a Motor Vehicle without a License and Prohibited Acts in a Boat Launch.
Hunting Arrest
On the 22nd of January Officers Ulkus and Samorajczyk were dispatched to an active deer hunting complaint at an office campus property in West Haven. The complainant believed that an individual who parked his car nearby was illegally hunting deer as no permission is given out. The Officers followed a set of fresh footprints into the wooded area and found a 58 year old man actively bow hunting deer. He did not have a valid 2011 license and also lacked the written permission necessary to hunt deer on private land. He was arrested for Illegal Deer Hunting without Archery Deer Permit and Archery Hunting Private Land without Written Consent with a court date of February 3rd in Superior Court in Milford.
Public Safety Assists
During the month of January, Marine District Officers participated in 36 Public Safety Assists. Most of them were winter storm related events for stuck, disabled and crashed vehicles but other incidents included missing people, trees blocking roads and an armored car robbery in Stonington, in which Officer Tavares participated.
WESTERN DISTRICT
EnCon Police assist State Police on interstate highways
On Friday January 7th, during the afternoon and evening a snowstorm struck western Connecticut. The speed of snow accumulation and the resulting road conditions were such that New York was forced to close I-84 just over the state line. This created traffic problems back into Connecticut as far east as Southbury. ConnDOT quickly became overwhelmed trying to plow the snow as I-84 came to a standstill. There were numerous spinouts, accidents and tractor trailer jackknife accidents on the highway which prevented plows from getting through stranding motorists throughout the area on the highway. The State Police quickly reached point where they could not respond to all the calls for assistance from stranded motorists as Troopers were being bogged down in the snow. The State Police needed assistance getting to stranded motorists on the highway and called for the EnCon Police to help. Sgt Keith Schneider, Sgt Mark Shaw, Officers Sean Buckley, Keith Williams, Ralph Concepcion and Paul Hilli responded. Officers Hilli and Williams brought an ATV and snowmobile to I-84 while Officers Buckley and Concepcion responded directly to the highway along with Sgt.’s Shaw and Schneider.
As the evening wore on these officers had a tremendous impact on the safety of the motoring public stranded on the highway by going vehicle to vehicle checking the well being of the occupants using the snowmobile, ATV and four wheel drive trucks. The quick response and actions of the EnCon Police were noted by Governor Malloy when he contacted DEP Commissioner Marrella while preparing for further severe weather approaching the state.
On Wednesday January 12th, another major snowstorm struck Connecticut with leaving over 2 feet of snow in areas of the state. EnCon Police officers again responded to the interstate highways and provided assistance to the State Police with numerous stranded vehicles and accidents.
Subaru stuck on snowmobile trail
On January 10th, EnCon Police Officer Erin Crossman responded to a report of a Subaru Legacy stuck in the snow on a snowmobile trail in Peoples State Forest in Barkhamsted. Officer Crossman located the vehicle which required a tractor and two tow trucks to pull it out of the snow. Officer Crossman arrested the operator for illegal use of a forest trail.
Illegal trapper arrested
On January 15th, EnCon Police Officer Ed Yescott received information from a Connecticut State Trooper regarding a vehicle that he had observed in Harwinton containing a number of smooth wire traps. Officer Yescott located the vehicle parked on a road in Harwinton and observed tracks in the snow leading from the vehicle into the woods.
Officer Yescott followed the tracks into a swamp adjacent to the Naugatuck River. Officer Yescott found a smooth wire trap in a bucket set on the bank. This set was sprung, however the trap was not touching the water as required and there was no name on the trap, also required. Officer Yescott continued to follow the trail and found another 330 size smooth wire trap set in the stream bed, half out of the water. A trap of this size is required to be completely under the water to avoid an inadvertent catch. This trap did have the name and address on it as required. Following the trail further Officer Yescott found a 280 smooth wire trap which was set directly in and on a beaver lodge, the trap did not have a name on it. Traps of all shapes and sized must be set at least ten feet from a beaver lodge. Officer Yescott continued following the trail, out of the swamp into the woods and found two separate illegal snares set on runs. All five traps found by Officer Yescott were set in some form of illegal manner. After seizing all the traps, Officer Yescott and Sgt. Mark Shaw went to the home of the person named on one of the seized traps.
The subject admitted that he knew his sets were illegal. He said that he was targeting coyotes with the snares and he knew that he needed to take a separate and special trapping class to land trap coyotes and that he knew snares were illegal. The subject also admitted that he did not have any written permission to trap on the property and only had verbal permission from an adjacent land owner to "do whatever he wanted" on their property. He also admitted to knowing that he could not set a trap on a beaver lodge. Officer Yescott arrested the subject for four counts of not having his name on his traps; five counts of trapping without written permission of the landowner; three counts of having traps set out of the water; two counts of using snares; two counts of illegal coyote land trapping; and one count of trapping within ten feet of a beaver lodge.
Arrest made for dirtbike with mutilated identification number
On April 11,, 2010, EnCon Police Officers Keith Williams and Sean Buckley located a subject illegally riding an unregistered dirtbike in Naugatuck State Forest in Naugatuck. Upon examining the dirtbike Officer Williams determined that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) had been mutilated. The dirtbike was seized and the subject was charged in the field for operating an unregistered ATV. The subject provided paperwork with an alleged VIN number for the machine. A check on the VIN number provided revealed it was improper and out of sequence. The Connecticut State Police Auto Theft Unit assisted in the investigation by performing an acid lift to try and raise the VIN on the dirtbike with negative results. As a result of his investigation, Officer Williams obtained an arrest warrant for the subject for possession of a motor vehicle with a mutilated VIN. The subject surrendered himself for arrest on January 27th.
EASTERN DISTRICT
On 1/2/2011, EnCon Police Officer Golet responded to a complaint of a dog caught in a leg hold trap in the Town of East Hampton. The dog had received minor injuries and was taken to a local veterinarian. Upon his arrival, Officer Golet located the trap and after conducting his investigation he located the suspected trapper. After interviewing the subject Officer Golet determined that the accused did not have a trapping license, did not have written permission of the landowner and had an illegal land set. The accused was issued a summons for the charges and will have to appear in the Middletown court.
On 1/10/2011, EnCon Police Officer Lindo responded to a complaint of a possible burglary in progress at Sunrise Resort State Park in East Haddam. A passerby had witnessed a male trying to gain access to the main office. Upon Officer Lindo’s arrival he discovered an unoccupied pickup truck, bearing a West Virginian registration, parked at the park’s entrance. A quick search of the immediate area for the suspect had negative results. EnCon Officer Golet and CSP personnel responded to assist. Shortly thereafter the suspect who was the owner of the pickup truck was located. It was determined that the subject did not commit a burglary but did admit to breaking a window. He was taken into custody and transported to CSP- Troop K and processed for the charges of Criminal Mischief and violation of hours of operation. The subject was arraigned in court the following day.
On 1/26/2011 at approximately 6:20 PM, EnCon Police Officers Stone, Ruggiero, Wojcik and CSP Troopers responded to Pachaug Pond in Griswold for a complaint of a snowmobile vs. pedestrian accident. Upon arrival it was determined that an individual was shoveling the pond surface to create a skating rink when a snowmobile stopped and talked to him. The snowmobile left the area and returned at which time he struck the person shoveling. Both subjects were injured and transported to Backus hospital. EnCon Police officers are currently investigating the case.
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Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police