East District

Seafood dealer inspections

During the month of February, officers in the Marine district conducted seafood dealer inspections at establishments along the shoreline. Officers conducted surprise inspections and enforced state and federal shellfish and lobster regulations. Over a dozen locations were inspected with over 15 pounds of lobster seized during the enforcement initiative. The most prolific enforcement violation discovered by officers were lobster being sold that were less than the States legal size limit.

Fishing and recreational vehicle enforcement

The continuation of a snowy and cold winter has kept officers busy checking ice fisherman and people recreating on snowmobiles and ATV’s. During the month of February officers issued eight infractions and two warnings for a variety of recreational vehicle violations. Violations included; operating without valid registration, trespassing and failure to yield while crossing a road.

Officers issue over thirty warnings and seven infractions for fishing violations. Most of the violations were; failure to carry a license, fishing without a license and failure to have name and address on tip ups.

Illegal dumping / littering

On February 19, 2014 Officer O’Brien received a complaint from DEEP maintainers about items illegally dumped at the Messerschmidt Pond boat launch. The items consisted of furniture and personal luggage. During the investigation a suspect was identified. Clinton Police assisted by providing updated contact information for the suspect. During the interviewing process the suspect admitted to dumping the items at the boat launch. An infraction was then issued for illegal dumping on public land ($319 fine). The items were then removed and disposed of by Park maintenance staff.

West District


Illegal primate seized

On February 4th, EnCon Police Officer Stone responded to Waterbury to a report of a child being bitten by a monkey. Officer Stone coordinated his investigation with the Waterbury Animal Control Officer and State Animal control officer and determined that the Waterbury resident had a Marmoset monkey which had bitten and scratched their daughter. The Marmoset is a Category Two wild animal under DEEP regulations. The state's laws regarding the possession of primates were changed after a woman was mauled by a 200-pound chimp in Stamford in February 2009. As a result, the Marmoset was seized and transported to the Beardsley Park Zoo in Bridgeport for safekeeping. The Waterbury resident was charged with illegal possession of a primate. As a result of the adjudication of the case, the Marmoset was ordered by the court to be removed from Connecticut to a location where possession of the species is permitted.


Subject arrested shooting songbirds

On February 16th, EnCon Police Officer Begley was on routine patrol in the town of Sharon. Officer Begley passed a vehicle that was parked on the side of the road and observed what appeared to be the barrel of a long gun protruding out of the window. Officer Begley then observed the operator of the vehicle shooting songbirds in an apple tree adjacent to the roadway. Officer Begley arrested the subject charging him with two counts of shooting a non-game bird.



Public Outreach- Wamogo High School Aquaculture class

On February 20th, EnCon Police Sergeant K. Schneider and Officer Hilli conducted a public outreach event for 21 students from the Wamogo High School (Warren/Morris/Goshen) Aquaculture class involving ice fishing. Sgt Schneider and Officer Hilli conduct this event on a yearly basis to familiarize students with ice fishing techniques and methods as well as to expand their knowledge in the field of aquaculture.

Question regarding the information on the tip ups. All of my tip ups are properly marked....when my son or daughter or friend (without tip ups) are using my extra ones, are we in violation because they only have my info on them?

I pretty much figured that was the case.... thanks for the clarification. Thanks