Western District
Illegal Preseason Turkey Hunting

On Saturday 3/28/2015 EnCon Emergency Dispatch was contacted by Plymouth Police for a report of a turkey hunting violation from a walk-in complainant reporting that a neighbor had shot multiple times from his house at a flock of turkeys in his backyard.

EnCon Officers DeFelice, Norton and EnCon Sergeant Williams responded to Plymouth PD and obtained a sworn written statement from the complainant along with photos taken of the hunting violations.

EnCon Police along with a Plymouth PD Sergeant and Officer responded to the suspects residence provided by the complainant. The male suspect was informed of the complaint and denied any involvement. The suspect was advised that a search warrant would be pursued for his residence base upon the evidence. The suspect advised EnCon to do what you need to do. After a short period of time EnCon Sergeant Williams and the Plymouth Sergeant returned to the suspects door and advised him a search warrant was being pursued for his residence and that he was not free to leave. The suspect then asked EnCon Sergeant Williams for 5 minutes. Within 30 seconds the suspect returned to the front door with 2 illegally taken hen turkeys and a .22 caliber air rifle and confessed to having shot the turkeys earlier that morning.

The illegal hen turkeys and rifle were seized as evidence. The suspect was arrested for illegal hunting within 500' of a dwelling, hunting turkey during a closed season, illegal turkey hunting without a permit and warned for shooting hen turkeys out of season and illegal use of the firearm, improper ammunition. The suspect was released on a Written Promise to Appear in Bristol Superior Court GA 17 on 4/13/2015.

Marine District Highlights
Commercial Shellfish Violation

During the month of February Officer Ulkus began an investigation into an alleged shellfish harvester violating shellfish regulations in the Mystic River. A commercial oyster harvester was observing working on his Mystic River shellfish beds harvesting and relaying oysters. The beds were not properly marked and the harvester had not followed proper procedure for relaying or direct harvest of the product. On March 12,2015 Officer Ulkus issued an infraction to the harvester for unmarked shellfish beds and a written warning for the commercial license violations.

DUI Arrest

On March 22, 2015 Officers Stanko and Mihalyak were on patrol in the town of Westbrook when they saw a male driving a motor vehicle erratically, nearly hitting another vehicle as it ran through a stop sign. They stopped the offending vehicle and quickly noticed that the operator displayed signs of being intoxicated. Officer conducted field sobriety tests on scene and arrested the operator who later admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages earlier in the day. The operator was also found to be under suspension and had prior arrests, including a recent DUI in Old Saybrook. The accused was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, operating under suspension and failure to obey a stop sign. he was released after posting bond. The accused is scheduled to appear in Middletown Superior Court later in the month.

ATV ENFORCEMENT

On March 26, 2015 Officer Nivolo was checking fishermen on the Housatonic River in Milford during low light conditions when he saw an individual operating a blue ATV on RT 1. The operator was stopped and stated he was trying to get home because his truck broke down. The operator did not have the proper registration for the ATV. An infraction was issued to the operator for unregistered operation of an ATV on a public highway.

Eastern District Highlights

Hunting

On Friday March 6, 2015 Officer Arsenault received a complaint from a fellow DEEP employee regarding a bobcat that had been shot in CT. Officer Arsenault investigated the complaint and was able to determine that the cat had been killed in Bozrah, CT. Upon further investigation Officer Arsenault was able to identify the shooter and obtained a sworn written statement from him where he admitted to taking the cat in Bozrah earlier in the week. The suspect was charged with Hunting Bobcat during closed season (there is no season in CT for Bobcat) and hunting without a license.

On Saturday march 14, 2015 Officer J. Williams served an active arrest warrant he held for a Killingly man that was being held at the DOC Willard Correctional Institution in Enfield. Officer Williams processed the man at the prison charging him with Criminal Possession of a firearm, Criminal trespassing 3rd degree, and Negligent Hunting. The accused was given a court date and remanded back to the custody of the DOC.

Park & Forest

On February 28, 2015 Officer Vroman was working the Airline Trail State Park near the State line Thompson when he made contact with 3 non resident snowmobilers. He initiated a stop and issued them infractions for operating their snowmobiles in an unauthorized area.

On March 10, 2015 Officer J. Williams served a Willimantic woman with an arrest warrant out of GA 11 regarding an incident that occurred in June 2014 at Diana's Pool in Chaplin. The woman was served with the arrest warrant while at the courthouse foran unrelated arrest. Officer Williams charged her with Burglary, Conspiracy to commit Larceny 6th, Conspiracy to commit credit card theft and attempt to commit illegal use of a credit card. She was arraigned the same day.