CT State EnCon Police
Marine District Highlights
September 2017

Park & Forest
On 09/01/17 Sergeant Chemacki and Officer Curran responded to Rocky Neck State Park for a report of an active domestic dispute between a male and female. The male suspect had been drinking alcohol and an altercation had unfolded on the beach. An argument occurred between the two relating to the female not wanting the male to live with her anymore. The male became violent and broke the chair the female was sitting in, threw sand in her face and kicked her in the leg. The male was subsequently located and taken into custody. He was processed at Troop E and charged with Breach of Peace and Criminal Mischief 3rd.
On 09/15/17 Sergeant Stanko and Officer Curran responded to Harkness Memorial State Park for a report of a dog falling out of a truck and a person beating it. Upon arrival the dog was found tied up in the back of the truck with no food or water. Witnesses who observed the incident related they saw a female in the truck get out and pick the dog up off the ground by its collar, held the dog in the air and carried it across the parking lot yelling and screaming at it. The female then dropped the dog on the ground and began kicking it. The dog was then picked up and put back in the truck. Sergeant Stanko found the driver of the vehicle who related the dog jumped of of the truck while it was moving and that she had smacked the dog several times to teach it a lesson. The original complainant was contacted and interviewed about what she saw. She related that she saw the dog being kicked and hit, grabbed by the ears and left it in the back of the truck. The local Animal Control Officer (ACO) was contacted and upon arrival took possession of the dog. Upon examination the dog suffered skin abrasions and bruising, road rash and soreness in both rear legs. The owner of the dog was charged with Cruelty to Animals.
Wildlife Enforcement
On 09/30/17 EnCon Officers from the Marine District responded RT 9 southbound in the vicinity of exit 4 in the town of Essex for a report of a cow moose that was struck by a motor vehicle. The moose was able to make it to the Woodline after being struck by a vehicle and stumbled down an embankment. Thankfully there were no injuries to the two occupants of the motor vehicle which had damage to the vehicle’s roof. Due to its injuries the moose had to be euthanized. State Wildlife Biologists will be conducting a necropsy of the estimated 700 lb. animal.


Fishing Enforcement
On 09/04/17 Officer Nivolo saw an individual fishing the Saugatuck River at the State Boat Ramp who kept an undersized fluke and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. This individual was also seen keeping undersized scup. Officer Nivolo approached the individual and determined that he also did not have a valid fishing license. The fluke was measured to be 14” (minimum legal length for fluke is 19.) The individual was issued an infraction for Fishing w/o a License and Possession of Undersized fluke. The scup were still alive and returned to the water where they belonged.
On 09/06/17 Officer Bruno saw an individual crabbing from a kayak on the Pattagansett River in East Lyme. Upon a compliance check of the individual, it was determined he had 21 blue crabs, 11 of which were under legal length to possess, less than 5” from point to point. The individual stated to Officer Bruno that he was in a rush to get home because the mosquitoes were biting him. The individual was issued an infraction for Possession of Undersized Blue Crabs.
On 09/17/17 Officer Hey saw an individual fishing at Lighthouse Point in New Haven. Upon checking said individual, it was determined that he was in possession of undersized blackfish. At this time the season for blackfish was closed. The individual was issued an infraction for Possession of Tautog (blackfish) during a closed season.
On 09/21/17 Officer Hey was patrolling the shoreline in Milford and saw and individual fishing and recognized this to be the same person he had dealt with several weeks prior who did not have a fishing license. Officer Hey approached the individual and determined that he was in possession of 8 undersized scup and still had not purchased his fishing license. An infraction was issued for both violations.
On 09/23/17 Sergeant Stone was patrolling the shoreline around Milford and saw several individuals approaching him walking towards their vehicle with fishing gear and several small plastic coolers. Sergeant Stone checked the coolers for fish and found 54 short scup, 9 short sea bass and 3 short striped bass. The three individuals were cited accordingly and the dead fish were donated to the Beardsley Zoo to feed wildlife.
On 09/24/17 Officer O’Brien saw an individual fishing from shore in West Haven with a group of other fishermen keeping undersized fish and hiding them in his vehicle. The individual was checked and found to have in his possession four Tautog (blackfish) all of which were under the minimum legal limit of 16”. The individual was issued an infraction for Possession of Undersized Tautog and Possession of Tautog During the Closed Season.
Numerous fishing violations occurred in the month of September involving Undersized scup and black sea bass, over the daily limit of bluefish and possession of Tautog during the closed season.


Public Outreach
Marine District Officers participated in the annual Hunting & Fishing Day at Cabela’s with the Marine TIP Trailer. Officer Logiodice and his K-9 partner Ruger conducted a fish and game detection demonstration of which several youths participated in hiding the “evidence” around the grounds. Officer Logiodice and Ruger were able to locate all of the evidence. The demonstration was well received by the public and emphasized our officers and k-9’s abilities.
CT EnCon Police
East District Highlights
September 2017

Moose Incident
On the morning of September 30th, 2017, The Connecticut State Police notified DEEP Emergency Dispatch that a moose had been sighted in Essex near a limited access highway. Officers Wojcik, Logiodice, Torres, Sergeants Chemacki, Kane, Stanko and Captain Lundin were responding when another notification was soon received that the moose had been struck by a car on Route 9, with no apparent injuries to the vehicle’s occupants. Early arriving officers found the moose far down an embankment with injuries from the collision, and it was euthanized. Division biologists were unable to respond but wanted to perform a necropsy, and the animal was transported to Franklin Wildlife with the assistance of many officers and a tow truck. Biologists later estimated the animal to be a 2½ year old, 650 pound female which had been tracked from Stafford through Tolland, Lebanon, Montville, East Lyme and Lyme over a 5 day period.
Search and Rescue Incident
On September 17th at about 8:30 PM Officers Pettus, Wojcik and Blackwell responded to Bigelow Hollow State Park following a report of a 70 year old male lost on the trail system since about 6:30 PM. State Police Troop C and local FD units also assisted in the search for the uninjured but disoriented male, who was located by EnCon Police early the next morning near the Massachusetts state line and returned to his family and vehicle after a well-being check.
Boating Enforcement / Incident Responses
On September 2nd, Officer Reilly and Sergeant Kane responded to Rock Landing Marina on the Connecticut River, Haddam Neck, for complaints of damage to docks and three vessels from an identified, forty-one foot cabin vessel that did not slow down in the posted no-wake area. After taking a statement from the complainant, the subject vessel was located up river and the 55 year old captain was cited for the wake violation and advised of the resulting damages.
On September 11, 2017, Officer Jason Williams was dispatched to a reported collision between a Middletown High School 9-person rowing scull and a small fishing vessel with one occupant that occurred near dark on the Connecticut River, Middletown. No injuries were reported, but damage occurred to the transom of the fishing vessel. The rowing scull coxswain was warned for failure to maintain proper lookout.
Park / Forest / WMA Enforcement
On 9/6/17 Officer Pettus received a complaint of 2 males smoking marijuana in the parking lot at Belding WMA, Vernon. Upon arrival she found 2 males matching the given descriptions and warned them regarding possession of illegal drugs / marijuana. Upon reaching their vehicle, the 22 and 23 year old males dumped marijuana in Officer Pettus’ sight and were cited for littering and illegal possession of marijuana.
Once again at Belding WMA, Officer Pettus received a complaint on 9/27/17 of possible illegal campers on state property. Though no indications of camping were found, four males ages 17-18 were found in possession of marijuana and numerous drug paraphernalia – all were cited for disorderly conduct and the illegal items were destroyed.
Officer Vroman was able to wrap up a September 2016 littering case where a large load of trash, cardboard and renovation materials were found in Natchaug State Forest, Chaplin. After tracking the materials through the homeowner in Leominster, Massachusetts and a contractor in Chaplin, the dumper was eventually identified and cited with a public land littering violation.
On the morning of 9/17/17, Officer Ruggiero found a smoldering fire and a Subaru without registration, smashed into a tree and abandoned in Cockaponset State Forest, Deep River. He eventually located the new owner of the vehicle and two other young males (ages 17-20) who admitted to having the party and fire the night before. All were cited for trespassing as well as the owner for abandoning a motor vehicle; the three males returned to douse the fire and cleaned up the remaining trash and pallets.
On September 20th, Cockaponset SF maintainers advised Officer Ruggiero of a large amount of garbage bags and a child’s play scape they found dumped on state forest land in Deep River. After locating trash items with addresses, Officer Ruggiero identified the hired contractor who removed the garbage and play scape and admitted to dumping them in the forest. He was cited for dumping/littering.
Public Outreach Events
Northeast sector Officers Danielson, Bouthillier and Vroman participated in all four days of the Woodstock Fair, held over the Labor Day weekend with many visitors and numerous hours put in by these officers in setting up the outreach trailer and its many displays.
Eastern District Officers Bouthillier, Pettus, Scatena, Sgt. Dwyer and Captain Lundin joined Marine officers with division outreach trailers at the Wildlife / Fisheries Divisions’ annual Hunting and Fishing Appreciation Day event at Cabela’s in East Hartford on September 23rd. With many displays by all DEEP outdoor divisions, attendance by other wildlife organizations and numerous participant activities, this event proved to be very popular and engaged many visitors of CT State EnCon Police
West District Highlights
September 2017

BOATING ENFORCEMENT

On 09/04/17 Officer Johnston conducted a vessel stop on a pontoon boat on Candlewood Lake in the town of Sherman. Upon stopping the vessel a male passenger stated that he was suffering from a head injury he sustained from being the operator of a jet-ski the was involved in a boating accident on the lake minutes earlier. Officer Johnston escorted the vessel into Squantz Cove where he met New Fairfield EMS. The male was transported to the hospital. At the same time a juvenile female was being transported from the lake by New Milford Ambulance for a hand injury that she sustained in the same boating accident. Several EnCon officers along with the Candlewood Lake Marine Patrol responded to multiple scenes on the lake that involved the accident and Danbury Hospital. It was later determined that a jet ski collided with the bow of an anchored vessel near Chicken Rock. The operator of the Jet Ski was ejected into the vessel injuring his head. The female juvenile passenger of the vessel sustained minor injuries to her finger. All injured parties were treated and released from the hospital the same day. The operator of the jet-ski was charged with Reckless Boating 2nd Degree, Insufficient Fire Extinguishers, and Operation of a Personal Watercraft without Certificate.

HUNTING ENFORCEMENT

On 09/12/17 Officer Heath was walking a parcel of woods in the town of Plymouth when he discovered a clearing in the trees with multiple tree stands facing apples, corn and a bait block on the ground. On opening day 09/15/17 Officers Heath and Yescott entered the woods in the early morning and at approximately 0645hrs discovered an individual wearing camouflage clothing sitting in a tree stand with his compound bow facing the bait piles. The accused was escorted from the woods and charged with Hunting deer over bait. The accused’s bow, arrows, trail camera and tree stand were seized as evidence. The accused is scheduled for a court appearance on 09/25/17 at Bristol Superior Court.

On 9/16/17 the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Emergency Dispatch Centers received an anonymous report that a male had illegally shot and killed two black bears on private property in Wilton. Officers Mihalyak, Mazzotta, Flis and Sergeant Buckley responded to the area and saw a male exiting the woods allegedly carrying a bear skin, head and paws stored in his backpack, he was accompanied by another individual. The male allegedly stated that he shot the first bear as it was walking under his tree stand. He further admitted that while checking on the deceased bear a second bear approached him. He stated that he then shot and killed the second bear. He stated he texted a friend to assist in retrieving the bears from their location. Upon arrival they both allegedly skinned the first bear, cutting off its paws and head, for a trophy mount. The accused did not have a valid 2017 hunting license or Archery Permit. After the initial investigation both individuals were arrested. One male was charged with Illegal taking of black bear (2 counts) and violation of Negligent Hunting 4th degree and was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond. The second male was charged with violation of Conspiracy to Commit Illegal taking of black bear and was released on a $3,000 non-surety bond. Both are scheduled to appear in GA 20 Norwalk Superior Court on September 28th 2017.

On 09/17/17 after receiving an anonymous complaint about deer baiting, Officer Flis saw a male hunting from a ground blind over the bait pile. The male was observed sitting in the homemade hunting blind approximately 16 yards from the whole kernel corn pile located in Derby CT. The male admitted to putting the corn there to attract the deer. The accused male admitted to knowing that it was illegal to bait deer in the area. He did however have legal permission to hunt the area and had all his proper licenses. He was issued a summons for the violations and is scheduled to appear at GA-5 court in Derby.

NARCOTIC ENFORCEMENT

On 09/23/17 while conducting boating safety enforcement at Rainbow Reservoir in Windsor Officer DeFelice saw a vehicle parked facing the wood line with the driver side door open and the operator's legs hanging out of the car. He approached to check on the wellbeing of the operator and saw that the operator was huddled next to a female passenger, who was not wearing a shirt. Officer DeFelice stepped back so that the female could put on her shirt, and the male operator immediately stepped out of his vehicle and approached him asking about hiking trails. The operator approached Officer DeFelice keeping his right arm behind his back and appeared to be clinching an object. The operator refused to take his arm from behind his back and subsequently was handcuffed for officer safety. Once handcuffed Officer DeFelice noticed that the operator dropped a crack pipe. As this happened the female passenger exited the vehicle and quickly approached Officer DeFelice in a panicked state, reaching for contents in her pants pockets as she approached. The female refused instructions to keep her hand out of her pockets and stand at the rear of the vehicle. As a result the female was also handcuffed for safety. While handcuffed, the female again reached into her pockets and Officer DeFelice could see the torn edge of packaging which he suspected was used to contain heroin. The female indicated that she had additional narcotics on her person and a search of her revealed two empty heroin packets, two packets containing suspected fentanyl and three rocks of crack cocaine as well as a plastic straw with suspected heroin residue and a glass pipe with suspected crack cocaine residue. The male operator was arrested and charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and the female was charged with Possession of Narcotics (Crack Cocaine), Possession of Narcotics (Fentanyl), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Prohibited Acts at a State Boat Launch.

PARK & FOREST

On 09/05/17 EnCon Officers, Connecticut State Police, Simsbury Police, Avon Police and Simsbury Fire Department responded to Talcott Mountain on the report of a lost hiker. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the lost hiker came to the mountain after arguments with his girlfriend and comments were made that indicated he may be contemplating suicide. A maintenance garage at the top of the mountain was discovered to have a broken window and unsecured door. It appeared as if someone entered the garage but nothing was reported missing. The party was later located in the general facility of the garage in the snack building. The accused was issued a summons and was ultimately transported to the hospital for a police emergency examination/ committal.

PUBLIC SAFETY

On 09/15/17 a sea-plane made a routine landing on Candlewood Lake in the town of Sherman. Upon landing the hull of the plane began taking on water. A Good Samaritan
Vessel retrieved the plane's pilot and passenger before the plane became partial submerged. State EnCon Police and Candlewood Lake Authority Marine Patrol responded. Upon arrival Officers Johnston and Cammack made sure no one was injured and secured the scene. DEEP Haz-Mat and The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) responded as well. EnCon Officers secured the plane for the evening and assisted the recovery operation that occurred the next day. The incident is under investigation by the FAA.

On 9/19/17 DEEP Dispatch received a call from a park maintainer who encountered a female who was distraught and sitting on the edge of a cliff at Sleeping Giant State Park. State EnCon Police as well as Hamden Police responded. Upon arrival Officers Mihalyak and Johnston along with Hamden Officers climbed the steep and treacherous blue trail to the top of "The Quarry" where they encountered a despondent barefoot female sitting on the edge of "The Quarry", a several hundred foot drop. After a 90 minute exchange Officers Mihalyak and Johnston along with the Hamden officers were able to convince the female to step away from the cliff. The officers then assisted the female in descending down from "The Quarry." The female was eventually transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital for an Emergency Evaluation.

TRAPPING ENFORCEMENT/NWCO

On 07/08/17 Officer Mihalyak was dispatched to Christine’s Critters in Weston for a deceased barred owl in a metal trap. The barred owl was caught in a Conibear 220 trap on July 7, 2017, and brought to Christine’s Critters for treatment. The barred owl had several injuries. The right leg was dislocated, twisted 90 degrees, and broken due to the trap. The right leg was also swollen to approximately three times its normal size. There was damage to the underside of the owls wings with several abrasions to the feather and bones, all exposed. The feathers were either entirely removed or frayed due to the barred owl using its wings to crawl along the ground. Officer Mihalyak spoke with several individuals and was able to locate the trapper, who was a Nuisance Wildlife Control Officer (NWCO) until December 31, 2016. He provided two handwritten signed sworn statements detailing that he had been paid to remove a woodchuck from an address in Seymour. He set a Conibear 220 trap over a woodchuck burrow. He did not anchor the trap, did not stamp or attach his name to the trap and had left the name of the individual that had given him the trap on the trap. This is all required to be legal. An arrest warrant was applied for and issued for the accused. The accused turned himself in for processing at Troop I, Bethany on 09/08/17. He is scheduled to appear at G.A. 5 Derby Superior Court for the following violations: Trapping w/o a license; NWCO w/o a license; Failure to attach/stamp name on trap; Catch or kill any bird other than game bird; Illegal trap by NWCO; – No species, other than listed may be trapped or killed; – Illegal trap set – set below surface of water; securely anchored to ground; and – No open trapping season for woodchuck.



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