Western District
Public Safety

On April 7, 2015 Southwest Officers responded to the Derby Dam on the Housatonic River for a report of a suspicious male who was reported to be intoxicated and harassing individuals who where fishing in the area. The intoxicated male had threatened a fisherman that he was going to ram his vehicle into the river. Officers arrived on scene but the intoxicated male had left the area prior to their arrival in what was described as a gray Ford type of vehicle with a "loud exhaust". As officers were leaving the area a vehicle matching the description drove into the area. Contact was made with the operator who was found to be under the influence of alcohol. It was also determined that it was the same male that was harassing the fishermen earlier. The operator was arrested for operating under the influence and breach of peace.

Fishing
On April 27, 2015 Southwest Officers were conducting patrols of the Quinnipiac River and Housatonic Rivers for illegal striped bass activity. This patrol resulted in $770.00 in infractions and a total of 14 seized striped bass for violations of excess creel and undersized fish.

Marine District Highlights
Commercial Fishing Arrest

On April 16, 2015 Officer Stone was on patrol in the Housatonic River area and observed an oysterman on a seed oyster boat working beds in the river. Officer Stone conducted a boarding check when the vessel returned to port in Stratford. During the inspection he discovered numerous bags of oysters which included oysters greater than 2 inches. A tota1 of 81 bags of oysters were seized some of which were from the day prior. Approximately 90% of the entire catch was illegal and not properly tagged or labeled. The oysterman was charged with violation of shell fishing regulations for the untagged bags and size violations.

On April 22, 2015 Sergeant C.Schneider and Officer Stone were working in the Darien area for a complaint of shell fishing prior to sunrise. The Aquaculture Division had received complaints about this activity and requested EnCon for assistance. During the early morning hours in complete darkness, the Officers were able to use special equipment to see a boat leave the harbor. The boat did not have any navigation lights displayed. The owner of the vessel was observed prior to sunrise with the dredge in the water, actively harvesting shellfish off of Stamford. Officers requested the assistance of Stamford Marine Patrol to conduct an inspection of the vessel. The vessel owner stated the lights on his vessel didn't work and tried to tell Officers he was actively shell fishing during legal hours. He later admitted this was false. The local shell fisherman was arrested for taking shellfish between sunset and sunrise and failure to have prescribed navigation lights in the vessel.

Lobster Arrest

On April 25, 2015 Officer Bruno and Sergeant Kane were on patol in the Stonington area and observed a small vessel with three occupants hauling lobster traps in and around the Stonington break wall. The lobsterman was observed hauling numerous traps but did not have the required plate or buoy displayed as required by law. The accused hauled traps for several hours and acted suspicious when other vessels approached his location. Officers conducted an inspection of the vessel as it came into the Barn Island boat launch. During the inspection Officers discovered one lobster less than the legal carapace length mixed in with several other legal sized lobsters. When asked if there were any other lobsters in the vessel the accused stated "no". Another undersized lobster was found under life jackets in a separate compartment. The accused was charged with possession of lobsters less than the minimum carapace length and failure to display a lobster buoy. The lobsters were seized and returned to the waters in the interest of conservation.

Eastern District Highlights
Hunting

On April 29, 2015 Officer Vroman received a complaint from a landowner in Woodstock regarding a man hunting without permission. Upon arrival Officer Vroman located the suspect where he then verbally admitted he did not have permission to hunt for the current year. The suspect was a resident of Massachusetts and arrested for hunting on private property without permission. He was released on a cash bond and given a court date.

On April 20, 2015 a homeowner was in his garage in Montville and upon walking out his door he witnessed an unknown man shoot a turkey on the homeowners front lawn. The suspect then grabbed the turkey and took off in a black Dodge pickup truck. The homeowner was able to get a good description of the vehicle but no license plate. The homeowner E who put out a BOLO for the vehicle. Officer Wojcik arrived on scene and gathered more information which added to the BOLO. On April 29, 2015 a Montville Officer saw what he thought matched the description of the vehicle from the incident and initiated a motor vehicle stop. An interview was conducted but the Wojcik was notified by Montville and located the suspect later in the day and interviewed him at his house. Upon interview and further investigation the suspect provided a full sworn written confession of the incident. A warrant for his arrest is pending in GA 21.

Fishing

On April 4, 2015 a man attempted to ice fish on Bungee Lake in Woodstock when he fell through the ice but was able to self rescue. He decided to go home, change in to dry clothes and try again. He went back to the same location where he did not have permission to fish and proceeded to fall through the ice again. He was rescued by local fire and State Police Troop D emergency personnel this time. Due to the rescue some of his fishing equipment was left behind. The following morning he decided to try and fish again and also retrieve his gear. Officer Bouthillier received a call regarding the angler and responded to the area. Upon arrival Officer Bouthillier observed the fisherman in a small vessel. The fisherman admitted that he did not have permission to fish the area. He was also fishing with 10 tip-ups and knew he was limited to 6. The suspect was issued and infraction at that time for trespassing and ice fishing with too many tip-ups.

on April 7, 2015 Officer J. Williams was working the Pachaug River and found 2 brothers fishing an area that was closed. Upon further investigation it was found the 2 brothers didn't have fishing licenses either. Infractions were issued to both.

Park & Forest

On April 25, 2015 Officer Ruggerio and Trainee Officer Mihalyak were patrolling the Salmon River State Forest due to recent smash & grab incidents in the area. While there they witnessed several different people operating 4wd vehicles in prohibited areas. The Officers issued several infractions for the violations and arrested one individual for operating a mot or vehicle while under suspension.

Later that same day, both Officers were at Millers Pond State Park conducting surveillance due to recent smash & grab incidents there and observed a vehicle pull into the lot where a person jumped out of that vehicle and grab a backpack that had been hidden in the woods. Seeing the suspicious behavior the Officers intervened and after a lengthy investigation determined that the suspect, a juvenile, had been part of a group whose car had been broken into earlier in the day. While dealing with police, the backpack, containing contraband had been hidden in the woods. The suspects mother was called to the scene and charges were issued to the juvenile. Both were advised to appear in juvenile court at a later date. The evidence was confiscated, tested and secured.

In the early morning hours of April 26, 2015 Officers responded to a complaint of a subject needing medical attention for an injury sustained during an altercation involving a large party in Quaddick State Forest in Thompson. Officers issued nearly 40 tickets to partiers for a variety of violations.

K-9
Three EnCon Officers and their K-9 partners attended and completed three weeks of fish detection training. The training was conducted by the CT State Police K-9 unit. During the three week period the dogs were introduced to small pieces of fish and ultimately to whole fish hidden on boats, cars and in between rocks and other natural terrain. The specialized unit demonstrated their skills in a media press event the day before the opening day of fishing season. Officers within the division will have canines as another tool to help apprehend violators that attempt to evade Officers by hiding their illegal catch. The dogs are also trained and certified in search & rescue, tracking, and evidence recovery.

Great work guys and girls

Wow...talk about determination...lol

On April 4, 2015 a man attempted to ice fish on Bungee Lake in Woodstock when he fell through the ice but was able to self rescue. He decided to go home, change in to dry clothes and try again. He went back to the same location where he did not have permission to fish and proceeded to fall through the ice again. He was rescued by local fire and State Police Troop D emergency personnel this time. Due to the rescue some of his fishing equipment was left behind. The following morning he decided to try and fish again and also retrieve his gear. Officer Bouthillier received a call regarding the angler and responded to the area. Upon arrival Officer Bouthillier observed the fisherman in a small vessel. The fisherman admitted that he did not have permission to fish the area. He was also fishing with 10 tip-ups and knew he was limited to 6. The suspect was issued and infraction at that time for trespassing and ice fishing with too many tip-ups.

Any May, June, and July highlights? I've interacted with a couple encon officers at the Gardner Lake boat ramp and both have said its been busy times. Always appreciate the hard work.

Looks like the highlights retired with Skip.....I sincerely hope not!