East District Highlights- May 2016

Boating Incident
On the morning of May 22, 2016, Officers Ruggiero, Ulkus, Danielson, Scatena-Kurtzenacker and Sgt. Dwyer along with local fire, EMS and State Police responded to a report of a capsized canoe with two people in the water at Lake of Isles, North Stonington. A twenty-eight year old male and his fifty year old father apparently went into the water without wearing lifejackets; the son was pulled to shore by a witness, while the father was located over an hour later by divers. He was brought to shore and pronounced deceased at the scene. EnCon Police continue to investigate.

Driving Under the Influence Arrest
Sunday evening, May 29th, EnCon Police were notified of a single vehicle accident at the state-owned Sunrise Resort in East Haddam. Upon arrival Officer Arsenault and Sgt. Dwyer found a 51 year old lone male occupant at the wheel of the vehicle which had struck a rock, and who showed signs of intoxication. The male was found to be uninjured, failed field sobriety tests, and was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. He was processed and released pending a future court appearance.

Park Enforcement
In the early morning hours of May 9th Officers Lindo, Reilly and O’Brien were called to a complaint of a loud party in the East Hampton section of Meshomasic State Forest. While entering the forest, Officer Lindo encountered eight late-teen males who advised him of a group of over 30 people further on in the forest, in an area where a 16 year old had been the week before and had been reportedly hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. Eventually a large group of youths were located, without alcohol; ten individuals received trespassing citations and all parties were evicted.


Marine District Monthly Highlights – May 2016


Illegal Hunting
On May 29, 2016 Officer Logiodice was called to assist Old Saybrook Police officers, who responded to a private residence in town in which an individual was shooting at a flock of turkeys. Officers seized a Pellet rifle from a suspect located at the scene. The suspect stated that he shot at the birds to scare them off because his neighbor didn’t want to be woken up by the gobbling Toms early in the morning hours. The season for hunting Turkeys was closed and the suspect did not have any licenses or permits to hunt turkeys. The suspect was charged with: Hunting on Sunday, Hunting without a license, Hunting turkeys without permits and Hunting turkeys during the closed season. The accused is scheduled to appear in Middletown Superior Court in June.

Fishing Citations
In the month of May, Marine district officers issued 18 - license citations (warnings & infraction), 8 -Striped Bass misdemeanor citations, 4 – Fluke / Black Sea Bass citations and 2 – blue crab violations.

Naval Security Escort

On May 2, 2016 a Naval Tall ship from Mexico was due into New London Harbor for a port visit. Marine District officers provided waterborne security for the Tall ship into the Harbor. They assisted the US Coast Guard and several local vessels in welcoming the visiting ship and safely escorted them into the Port of New London. The US Navy participated in a gun salute from Fort Trumbull as the ship passed by into the Harbor.
Boat Accident

On May 25, 2016 Officer Reilly was dispatched to the Niantic River area for a report of a boating accident. The US Coast Guard had responded to the area of Two Tree Island for a report of vessel taking on water. During the course of the investigation it was determined that a passenger, not familiar with the hazards around the Island, was operating the twenty one foot boat when it struck some rocks on the North end of the Island. The collision caused the lower unit and part of the transmission to be torn off of the boat. This caused the vessel to take on water. No injuries were reported and the operator was issued a written warning for: Illegal operation of a vessel without a valid boating certificate and the cause was due to operator error and improper lookout.

Western District Highights
HUNTING ENFORCEMENT:

On 05/21/2016, Officer Mihalyak was dispatched to the report of an individual having shot and harvested a turkey in an unauthorized area. On arrival he met the accused in the parking area. Officer Mihalyak walked with the accused to the area where the turkey was shot, located the shotgun shell and a pile of feathers and determined that the turkey was shot legally on state property. He followed up the initial investigation and checked with licensing and revenue to determine if the accused had reported harvesting a turkey. The accused had not done as of 05/23/2016. The accused had a significant history of fish and game violations including Failure to have HIP permit while hunting, Illegally carrying a firearm, hunting within 500 feet of a dwelling, and Illegally fishing with more than six tip ups / jigs in combination. The accused was given a misdemeanor summons for Failure to report taking of turkey within 24 hours.

On 5/21/16, Officer Yescott investigated a turkey hunting complaint and determined that a Farmington man spent the morning turkey hunting with two youth hunters. After a successful hunt by one of the youths the accused then went home, leaving and allowing both junior hunters to continue hunting without any supervision. The accused was cited for two counts of allowing junior hunters to hunt without supervision.

HUNTER HARASSMENT:

On 5/5/16 Officer Norton stationed himself on foot on the Woodbury Southbury Rod and Gun Club property on Town Line Road along with the complainant of a harassment incident. Officer Flockhart was stationed on the Woodbury Southbury Rod and Gun property on Benton Road in her vehicle. While Officer Norton was stationed on Town Line Road, the complainant actively attempted to “call in” turkeys from their location. At approximately 0748 hours, Officer Norton observed multiple turkeys heading northerly from the field across Town Line Road towards their location in response to the “calling.” As the turkeys were approximately half way across the field on the opposite side of the road, Officer Norton observed a silver-colored Volkswagen pull out of the nearby driveway, and slowly head down Town Line Road. As the vehicle passed by the “cable gate” it stopped for a few seconds to check the fields on both sides of the road. The vehicle then proceeded down Town Line Road a short distance where the operator then pulled the vehicle into the field where the turkeys had been seen in. The operator of the vehicle then proceeded to exit the silver-colored Volkswagen, and walked across the field towards the turkeys’ location. As the operator approached the turkeys Officer Norton observed her moving her arms in what appeared to be an attempt to “push” the turkeys back in a southerly direction, away from the complainant’s and Officer Norton’s location. At this time Officer Norton and Officer Flockhart made contact with the operator of the silver-colored Volkswagen. The officers explained to the operator that she could not partake in chasing turkeys away from individuals that were actively hunting, nor can she beep at wildlife in an attempt to affect wildlife behavior. The operator questioned Officer Flockhart and Officer Norton as to why. Officer Flockhart and Officer Norton politely explained that it is illegal and her actions matched that of Harassment of Hunters as it is listed under Connecticut State Law. The operator was then issued and explained a Misdemeanor Summons for Harassment of Hunters.

NUISANCE/EXOTIC WILDLIFE:
On 05/13/2016, Officer Mihalyak was dispatched to the report of an individual attempting to sell indigenous Northern Water Snakes through a closed Facebook group. He was provided with screen shots of the post by the complainant and made contact with the individual attempting to sell the Northern Water Snakes. The accused was informed by Officer Mihalyak that it was illegal to sell any game birds, wild quadrupeds, reptiles or amphibians. The accused did not have any previous wildlife violations and was issued a written warning for Illegal sale of birds, quadrupeds, reptiles or amphibians.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS:
On 04/18/16, while on fishing enforcement patrol on the Quinnipiac River in Meriden, Officer Hage observed two individuals actively fishing. He approached to conduct a fishing compliance check and noticed that both individual's fishing licenses were irregular. Officer Hage began to suspect that the licenses were forged. An investigation was subsequently started by the entire southwest sector in cooperation with multiple DEEP departments including staff from licensing and boating. Through this investigation, the officers confirmed that the fishing licenses had indeed been forged. One of the accused individuals then also stated to investigating officers that the fishing licenses were forged by the accused and that they had known that the licenses were forged when they produced them to Officer Hage on the Quinnipiac River. The licenses were printed in an exactly identical format to a valid 2011 fishing license complete with working watermark. Southwest officers applied for a warrant for each of the accused and the warrants were signed by the State's Attorney and Judge. The two accused individuals turned themselves in to EnCON officers. The accused individuals were charged with Forgery 2nd degree, Conspiracy to commit forgery in the 2nd degree, and Fishing without a license.

On 5/12/16 at approx. 0830 hours dispatch was notified of a missing female hiker on the Appalachian Trail. The incident was reported by hikers, after they stayed at a camp/shelter and found what they described as a females grey and lime green pack with white headphones. The group stayed the night and discovered the female had not returned by morning, fearing that she either was abducted or drowned in the river, they notified this police agency. Sergeant Begley with the assistance of a Troop L K-9, and Troop B, Officer Norton and Sergeant Williams responded to the remote area to investigate. While approaching the shelter Sergeant Begley observed a disheveled male hiker leaving with a shouldered grey and lime green pack holding white head phones. Sergeant Begley signaled the suspect to stop, but the male immediately dumped his gear and jumped off the cliff into the Housatonic River. Sergeant Begley pursued the male and apprehended him on the opposite side of the river. During the foot pursuit the male dumped a container believed to contain heroin into the river. The suspect was charged with the Possession of Heroin and Interfering. Troop K-9 officers conducted a thorough search for the container but were unsuccessful in locating it down river. The accused was later found to be the prime suspect in an incident involving unwanted sexual advances of teenage girls at a private school not far from his camp. The investigation revealed that the missing females gear was in fact his. It was apparent that the intervention of law enforcement at this stage could have been critical to preventing a serious crime of being committed.

ILLEGAL TRAPPING:
On 05/23/2016, Officer Mihalyak was contacted by Ansonia Animal Control regarding an individual possibly illegally trapping cats in Ansonia. He met with the accused who said he had traps on his property to catch rats, woodchucks, and raccoons because they were eating his plants. The accused had four unpadded metal traps and two homemade box traps set up on his property. The accused name was not attached or stamped on any of the traps as required. Each of the four unpadded metal traps was set on land in the open with concrete blocks and wood used to funnel wildlife through the traps. The traps were not located near any water source as required. The unpadded metal traps were illegally set and were a grave public safety risk to children and animals. The accused was issued a misdemeanor summons for Trapping with an illegal trap, Illegal trap set and Failure to have name on traps. The unpadded metal traps were seized as evidence.

PUBLIC SAFETY:
On 5/10/16 a male was hiking off trail at Talcott Mountain. The area was a steep ravine adjacent to a sheer cliff. He lost his footing and fell approximately 50 feet, landed against a tree and lost consciousness. Officer Yescott responded and facilitated his rescue with the assistance of the Simsbury Fire, Police, and Ambulance. The hiker was flown by Life Star to Hartford hospital to be treated for his injuries.

PUBLIC OUTREACH:
Six District officers participated in 6 public outreach events during the month. These events consisted of career fairs, ride-a-longs, and school talks.

Thanks Keith.

Believe me she was not a happy camper, but we haven't seen her since