EASTERN DISTRICT
Turkey Hunting Enforcement
On 5/7/08, opening day of turkey season, EnCon Police Officers Ruggerio and DeFelice were on patrol in Middlefield and were checking a hunter on private property who attempted to tag his turkey as they approached him at his vehicle, long after his bird should have been tagged in the field. He was charged with failure to immediately tag his bird.
On 5/10/08, EnCon Police Officer Wojcik heard a shot on an adjoining property in Lyme that he was patrolling and went to investigate. He found an individual who had shot two turkeys and failed to tag them and was attempting to leave the scene. He was charged with 2 counts of failure to immediately tag his birds
Officer Wojcik also had another illegal turkey hunting arrest on the 17th of the month when he investigated a complaint in Griswold resulting in the arrest of an individual who was hunting private property without consent and without tags and was found to be hunting over 7 piles of bait. He was charged with numerous counts of illegal turkey hunting.
Also, Officer Wojcik was the investigating officer for a turkey hunting related shooting in Salem on the 22nd where a 68 year old hunter shot a 50 year old hunter. Both parties were turkey hunting and the victim was transported to Backus Hospital in Norwich for non life threatening injuries by birdshot wounds to the face, neck and leg.
Fishing Enforcement
EnCon Police Officers in the Norwich area were targeting the Thames River Basin in an initiative to enforce the anadromous fishery of Striped Bass and Herring. Numerous officers issued 20 infractions and written warnings for violations ranging to illegally fishing the fish-way in Greeneville, short Striped Bass, illegal use of Herring for bait, failure to carry license and fishing without license.
EnCon Police Officers from the East and West Districts also cooperated in a similar initiative in the Hartford/East Hartford area of the Connecticut River enforcing the anadromous fishery, and Officer Pyznar himself issued a total of 16 infractions and written warnings in May.
Park and Forest Enforcement
On 5/24/08, EnCon Police Captain Overturf and Officer Myers responded to Miller’s Pond in Durham on a complaint from a Parks employee who found a vehicle with the door wide open in the parking lot of the park. Inside the vehicle, in plain view, were the visible gunstocks of numerous firearms. The individual was located in the park and arrested for reckless endangerment and 7 long guns (rifles and shotguns) and ammunition were confiscated. The individual had left his vehicle door wide open and unlocked after losing control of his dog and chasing it in to the park.
Boat Launch Enforcement
On 5/3/08, while patrolling Dooley Pond boat launch in Middletown, EnCon Police Officers Ruggerio and DeFelice observed a suspicious vehicle parked at the launch. Upon approaching the vehicle they smelled the odor of burnt marijuana. The female operator of the vehicle was arrested for possession of marijuana and illegal acts at a boat launch.
Assist another Agency
On 5/15/08, while on routine patrol, EnCon Police Officer Wojcik monitored a transmission over the Connecticut State Police radio regarding a home invasion in Bozrah. He was close by and performed a motor vehicle stop on a suspect vehicle occupied by 5 individuals from New Haven. The driver was operating under suspension, was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant and Connecticut State Police took the case which was determined to be a burglary.
WESTERN DISTRICT
Recreational Fishing Enforcement
During the month of May, Western District EnCon Police officers handled 106 inland fishing incidents. 47 of these incidents resulted in arrests and 31 involved written warnings being issued. 20 of the incidents were in the Connecticut River at or near Charter Oak landing in Hartford where numerous complaints had been received regarding illegal taking of herring and short striped bass. 11 of the 20 incidents resulted in arrests and 4 had written warnings issued.
DUI Accident at State Park
On 5/23/08, EnCon Police Officer Ralph Concepcion responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident at Black Rock State Park in Thomaston. Officer Concepcion determined that the 36 year-old operator of the vehicle collided with 4 posts inside the entrance to the park. Officer Concepcion determined that the operator was driving under the influence of alcohol and arrested him for DUI.
Illegal Turkey Hunting
On 5/29/08, EnCon Police Officers Tate Begley and Paul Hilli received a report of a turkey hunter in Salisbury who was almost shot by another hunter. The officers determined that the shooter did not have permission to be on the property where he was hunting and fired the shot towards the other hunter. The illegal hunter was arrested by the officers for Criminal Trespass.
Black Bears
During the month of May, EnCon Police received 306 complaints and sightings of black bears in the Western District.
MARINE DISTRICT
Turkey Enforcement
On 5/7/2008, EnCon Police Officers DeFelice and Ruggiero were patrolling the area of Lyman’s Orchards in Middlefield for turkey hunting activity. While they were patrolling, they observed a male subject in full camouflage standing next to a pickup truck. As they approached the subject, they could see he was holding a turkey. When the subject saw the officer’s approach, he dropped the turkey, pulled out his turkey tags, pulled off one of the tags and dropped it on the body of the turkey. The tag was not signed or punched out as required. The subject admitted to shooting the turkey earlier in the morning. The subject was issued a summons for failure to tag the turkey and the bird was seized as evidence.
Narcotics Arrest
On 5/11/2008, EnCon Police Sgt. Bull and Capt. Overturf were patrolling Hammonasset Beach State Park. They observed a vehicle parked in the East Beach parking lot with four people sitting in it. They pulled up next to vehicle and noticed that that the passenger’s side window was rolled down. Both Sgt. Bull and Capt. Overturf immediately detected the odor of burning marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officers took the driver and passenger out of the vehicle and the driver told Capt. Overturf that there was marijuana in the car and told him the location. Capt. Overturf retrieved a bag of marijuana, rolling papers and half a marijuana filled cigar. Officers Reilly and Chemacki arrived on scene and assisted with the incident. A subsequent search revealed another bag of marijuana, a marijuana smoking pipe and three cans of beer. All the occupants were seventeen years old or younger. Two of the subjects were arrested and issued a promise to appear for various narcotics and alcohol charges. All four of the youths parents were contacted and came to the scene to pick them up.
Illegal Oysters
On 5/15/2008, EnCon Police Officers Samorajczyk and Hey conducted an inspection of commercial seed oyster boats in the Housantonic River in conjunction with State Aquaculture personnel. They were checking for compliance of the 2.75 inch maximum size for seed oysters. They conducted inspections of four seed oyster fishermen catch as they prepared to off load their harvest to a buy boat. They found one of the vessels to have approximately 60 % of its catch of seed oysters over the 2.75 maximum size and another vessel with approximately 40% of its catch over the maximum size. The oysters were returned to the Housatonic River and the license holders for the two vessels were issued summonses for violation of their shellfish licenses.
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Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police
Captain Raul Camejo
Turkey Hunting Enforcement
On 5/7/08, opening day of turkey season, EnCon Police Officers Ruggerio and DeFelice were on patrol in Middlefield and were checking a hunter on private property who attempted to tag his turkey as they approached him at his vehicle, long after his bird should have been tagged in the field. He was charged with failure to immediately tag his bird.
On 5/10/08, EnCon Police Officer Wojcik heard a shot on an adjoining property in Lyme that he was patrolling and went to investigate. He found an individual who had shot two turkeys and failed to tag them and was attempting to leave the scene. He was charged with 2 counts of failure to immediately tag his birds
Officer Wojcik also had another illegal turkey hunting arrest on the 17th of the month when he investigated a complaint in Griswold resulting in the arrest of an individual who was hunting private property without consent and without tags and was found to be hunting over 7 piles of bait. He was charged with numerous counts of illegal turkey hunting.
Also, Officer Wojcik was the investigating officer for a turkey hunting related shooting in Salem on the 22nd where a 68 year old hunter shot a 50 year old hunter. Both parties were turkey hunting and the victim was transported to Backus Hospital in Norwich for non life threatening injuries by birdshot wounds to the face, neck and leg.
Fishing Enforcement
EnCon Police Officers in the Norwich area were targeting the Thames River Basin in an initiative to enforce the anadromous fishery of Striped Bass and Herring. Numerous officers issued 20 infractions and written warnings for violations ranging to illegally fishing the fish-way in Greeneville, short Striped Bass, illegal use of Herring for bait, failure to carry license and fishing without license.
EnCon Police Officers from the East and West Districts also cooperated in a similar initiative in the Hartford/East Hartford area of the Connecticut River enforcing the anadromous fishery, and Officer Pyznar himself issued a total of 16 infractions and written warnings in May.
Park and Forest Enforcement
On 5/24/08, EnCon Police Captain Overturf and Officer Myers responded to Miller’s Pond in Durham on a complaint from a Parks employee who found a vehicle with the door wide open in the parking lot of the park. Inside the vehicle, in plain view, were the visible gunstocks of numerous firearms. The individual was located in the park and arrested for reckless endangerment and 7 long guns (rifles and shotguns) and ammunition were confiscated. The individual had left his vehicle door wide open and unlocked after losing control of his dog and chasing it in to the park.
Boat Launch Enforcement
On 5/3/08, while patrolling Dooley Pond boat launch in Middletown, EnCon Police Officers Ruggerio and DeFelice observed a suspicious vehicle parked at the launch. Upon approaching the vehicle they smelled the odor of burnt marijuana. The female operator of the vehicle was arrested for possession of marijuana and illegal acts at a boat launch.
Assist another Agency
On 5/15/08, while on routine patrol, EnCon Police Officer Wojcik monitored a transmission over the Connecticut State Police radio regarding a home invasion in Bozrah. He was close by and performed a motor vehicle stop on a suspect vehicle occupied by 5 individuals from New Haven. The driver was operating under suspension, was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant and Connecticut State Police took the case which was determined to be a burglary.
WESTERN DISTRICT
Recreational Fishing Enforcement
During the month of May, Western District EnCon Police officers handled 106 inland fishing incidents. 47 of these incidents resulted in arrests and 31 involved written warnings being issued. 20 of the incidents were in the Connecticut River at or near Charter Oak landing in Hartford where numerous complaints had been received regarding illegal taking of herring and short striped bass. 11 of the 20 incidents resulted in arrests and 4 had written warnings issued.
DUI Accident at State Park
On 5/23/08, EnCon Police Officer Ralph Concepcion responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident at Black Rock State Park in Thomaston. Officer Concepcion determined that the 36 year-old operator of the vehicle collided with 4 posts inside the entrance to the park. Officer Concepcion determined that the operator was driving under the influence of alcohol and arrested him for DUI.
Illegal Turkey Hunting
On 5/29/08, EnCon Police Officers Tate Begley and Paul Hilli received a report of a turkey hunter in Salisbury who was almost shot by another hunter. The officers determined that the shooter did not have permission to be on the property where he was hunting and fired the shot towards the other hunter. The illegal hunter was arrested by the officers for Criminal Trespass.
Black Bears
During the month of May, EnCon Police received 306 complaints and sightings of black bears in the Western District.
MARINE DISTRICT
Turkey Enforcement
On 5/7/2008, EnCon Police Officers DeFelice and Ruggiero were patrolling the area of Lyman’s Orchards in Middlefield for turkey hunting activity. While they were patrolling, they observed a male subject in full camouflage standing next to a pickup truck. As they approached the subject, they could see he was holding a turkey. When the subject saw the officer’s approach, he dropped the turkey, pulled out his turkey tags, pulled off one of the tags and dropped it on the body of the turkey. The tag was not signed or punched out as required. The subject admitted to shooting the turkey earlier in the morning. The subject was issued a summons for failure to tag the turkey and the bird was seized as evidence.
Narcotics Arrest
On 5/11/2008, EnCon Police Sgt. Bull and Capt. Overturf were patrolling Hammonasset Beach State Park. They observed a vehicle parked in the East Beach parking lot with four people sitting in it. They pulled up next to vehicle and noticed that that the passenger’s side window was rolled down. Both Sgt. Bull and Capt. Overturf immediately detected the odor of burning marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officers took the driver and passenger out of the vehicle and the driver told Capt. Overturf that there was marijuana in the car and told him the location. Capt. Overturf retrieved a bag of marijuana, rolling papers and half a marijuana filled cigar. Officers Reilly and Chemacki arrived on scene and assisted with the incident. A subsequent search revealed another bag of marijuana, a marijuana smoking pipe and three cans of beer. All the occupants were seventeen years old or younger. Two of the subjects were arrested and issued a promise to appear for various narcotics and alcohol charges. All four of the youths parents were contacted and came to the scene to pick them up.
Illegal Oysters
On 5/15/2008, EnCon Police Officers Samorajczyk and Hey conducted an inspection of commercial seed oyster boats in the Housantonic River in conjunction with State Aquaculture personnel. They were checking for compliance of the 2.75 inch maximum size for seed oysters. They conducted inspections of four seed oyster fishermen catch as they prepared to off load their harvest to a buy boat. They found one of the vessels to have approximately 60 % of its catch of seed oysters over the 2.75 maximum size and another vessel with approximately 40% of its catch over the maximum size. The oysters were returned to the Housatonic River and the license holders for the two vessels were issued summonses for violation of their shellfish licenses.
_________________
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police
Captain Raul Camejo