MARINE DISTRICT
Illegal Deer Hunting
On 11/26/07, EnCon Police Officers Mike Tavares and Todd Chemacki received a complaint of possible illegal deer hunting activity on the Guilford Timberland property. No hunting is allowed on this property and a hiker had found large puddle of blood in the woods and believed it had been from an illegal deer kill. The two officers walked the area and found a tree stand and an area baited with corn. The officers worked the area for several days and on 12/9/07 found a subject dressed in camouflage clothing in the tree stand. The subject had a compound bow with an arrow knocked. The subject admitted to killing a deer in the area earlier. The subject brought the officers to his home and retrieved a bag of venison that had been cut up. The subject was issued a summons for illegal deer hunting, failure to carry deer tags, archery hunting for deer without landowner consent and failure to wear fluorescent orange clothing while hunting. The venison and archery equipment were seized as evidence.
Seafood Dealer Inspections
On 12/9/07, EnCon Police Officers from the Marine District in conjunction with Officers from the Western and Eastern Districts along with an agent from the National Marine Fisheries Service conducted inspections of many of the seafood dealers in Connecticut. Officers focused on license compliance, proper tagging of shellfish and minimum length compliance of lobsters. One dealer was cited for 34 counts of possession of lobster less than the legal minimum length and four counts of untagged shellfish, two other dealers were cited for failing to have a seafood dealer’s license, and four written warnings were issued for shellfish, lobster, blue crab and license violations.
WESTERN DISTRICT
Illegal Deer Hunting
On 12/01/07, EnCon Police Officers Matt Tomassone and Erin Crossman were checking a block of woods belonging to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) in New Hartford. The property is clearly posted "No Trespassing" and MDC does not allow hunting, fishing, or trapping on the property. Officer Tomassone observed a subject dressed in camouflage carrying a rifle in the woods and exited his patrol vehicle yelling "Police, drop your weapon". The subject began running further east into the block of woods while holding onto his rifle. Officers Tomassone and Crossman ran after the subject yelling "Police, drop your weapon" several times. After running approximately 200 yards the subject stopped and placed his rifle against a tree. Upon questioning the subject, Officer Tomassone determined that he had a tree stand on MDC property and had set out trail cameras, one of which was located and seized by EnCon Police Sgt. Paul O’Connell on an earlier date. The subject was arrested for Criminal Trespass third degree, Illegal deer hunting and Interfering with an officer.
On 12/1/07, while on routine patrol in Woodbury, EnCon Police Officer Tate Begley located several subjects hunting on private property without dated written consent of the landowner. The subject who was leading the group advised Officer Begley that he had permission from the property owner to hunt and gets "Party Permits". The subject advised Officer Begley that he did not complete the hunter’s information on the permission slips so he can give them to whichever friend he invites to hunt with him that day. As part of routine procedure, Officer Begley checked the subject’s firearms and after running a computer check of the serial numbers determined that the firearm that the subject leading the party had in his possession had been reported stolen several years earlier. All of the subjects hunting were arrested for hunting without dated written consent of the landowner. Officer Begley investigated further and determined that the subject did not know the firearm was stolen and that he had purchased it several years ago. Officer Begley contacted the gun’s original owner and found that the person who sold the rifle to the subject hunting was the son of the original owner. The original owner advised Officer Begley that his son had a drug problem and had stolen the gun from him. The information regarding the recovery of the stolen firearm was provided to the State Police who investigated the original firearm theft.
On 12/8/07, EnCon Police Officer Chris Dwyer was on foot patrol on a section of property owned and maintained by the Meriden Water Company in the Town of Berlin.
After walking for approximately 1/2 mile from the road, Officer Dwyer discovered fresh ATV tracks on the snow. Officer Dwyer followed the tracks and eventually heard someone in the woods talking. Officer Dwyer walked through a wooded area and discovered an ATV parked on the trail. Two subjects were standing to the side of the ATV. As Officer Dwyer approached the two subjects he saw that there was a trailer attached to the ATV. Inside the trailer were the remains of two male deer. One of the deer was an 8-point buck. The head had been cut away from the body. The other deer was a 7-point buck. The body and the head of this deer were fully intact. Neither deer had a deer permit attached as is required by state law. Both subjects were escorted back to the road where EnCon Police Officer Steve Stanko and members of the Berlin Police Department met Officer Dwyer. Officer Dwyer seized the ATV, trailer and the deer as evidence. Both subjects have an extensive record for illegal hunting and other criminal violations. They were charged with Illegal Deer Hunting, Hunting without a license, Criminal Trespass 1st degree, Negligent Hunting 3rd degree, Operating an unregistered ATV and Operating an ATV without written permission of the property owner.
On 12/15/07, EnCon Police Officers Steve Stanko and John Hey responded to a complaint of illegal hunters in the same block of Meriden Water Company property in Berlin where Officer Dwyer had arrested two subjects on 12/8/07. Officer Stanko located fresh boot print tracks that exited a vehicle in a one-way direction into woods adjacent to the vehicle. Officer Stanko and Hey followed the tracks approximately 300 yards into the woods where they encountered a subject walking towards them carrying a muzzle-loading firearm. Officer Stanko determined that the firearm was loaded and that the subject was one of the two subjects arrested by Officer Dwyer on 12/8/07 at the same location. The subject was arrested for illegal deer hunting and the muzzleloader was seized.
Assist State Police with Snowstorm
On 12/13/07 the State was hit with a major snowstorm that resulted in the State Police being overwhelmed with disabled vehicles and motor vehicle accidents throughout the region. The State Police contacted the EnCon Police and requested that EnCon officers assist them by responding to calls on the I-91, I-84 and the other major state highways. Western District EnCon Police officers handled 30 incidents ranging from single disabled vehicles to motor vehicle accidents and multiple tractor-trailers blocking the interstate highway.
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Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police
Captain Raul Camejo
Illegal Deer Hunting
On 11/26/07, EnCon Police Officers Mike Tavares and Todd Chemacki received a complaint of possible illegal deer hunting activity on the Guilford Timberland property. No hunting is allowed on this property and a hiker had found large puddle of blood in the woods and believed it had been from an illegal deer kill. The two officers walked the area and found a tree stand and an area baited with corn. The officers worked the area for several days and on 12/9/07 found a subject dressed in camouflage clothing in the tree stand. The subject had a compound bow with an arrow knocked. The subject admitted to killing a deer in the area earlier. The subject brought the officers to his home and retrieved a bag of venison that had been cut up. The subject was issued a summons for illegal deer hunting, failure to carry deer tags, archery hunting for deer without landowner consent and failure to wear fluorescent orange clothing while hunting. The venison and archery equipment were seized as evidence.
Seafood Dealer Inspections
On 12/9/07, EnCon Police Officers from the Marine District in conjunction with Officers from the Western and Eastern Districts along with an agent from the National Marine Fisheries Service conducted inspections of many of the seafood dealers in Connecticut. Officers focused on license compliance, proper tagging of shellfish and minimum length compliance of lobsters. One dealer was cited for 34 counts of possession of lobster less than the legal minimum length and four counts of untagged shellfish, two other dealers were cited for failing to have a seafood dealer’s license, and four written warnings were issued for shellfish, lobster, blue crab and license violations.
WESTERN DISTRICT
Illegal Deer Hunting
On 12/01/07, EnCon Police Officers Matt Tomassone and Erin Crossman were checking a block of woods belonging to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) in New Hartford. The property is clearly posted "No Trespassing" and MDC does not allow hunting, fishing, or trapping on the property. Officer Tomassone observed a subject dressed in camouflage carrying a rifle in the woods and exited his patrol vehicle yelling "Police, drop your weapon". The subject began running further east into the block of woods while holding onto his rifle. Officers Tomassone and Crossman ran after the subject yelling "Police, drop your weapon" several times. After running approximately 200 yards the subject stopped and placed his rifle against a tree. Upon questioning the subject, Officer Tomassone determined that he had a tree stand on MDC property and had set out trail cameras, one of which was located and seized by EnCon Police Sgt. Paul O’Connell on an earlier date. The subject was arrested for Criminal Trespass third degree, Illegal deer hunting and Interfering with an officer.
On 12/1/07, while on routine patrol in Woodbury, EnCon Police Officer Tate Begley located several subjects hunting on private property without dated written consent of the landowner. The subject who was leading the group advised Officer Begley that he had permission from the property owner to hunt and gets "Party Permits". The subject advised Officer Begley that he did not complete the hunter’s information on the permission slips so he can give them to whichever friend he invites to hunt with him that day. As part of routine procedure, Officer Begley checked the subject’s firearms and after running a computer check of the serial numbers determined that the firearm that the subject leading the party had in his possession had been reported stolen several years earlier. All of the subjects hunting were arrested for hunting without dated written consent of the landowner. Officer Begley investigated further and determined that the subject did not know the firearm was stolen and that he had purchased it several years ago. Officer Begley contacted the gun’s original owner and found that the person who sold the rifle to the subject hunting was the son of the original owner. The original owner advised Officer Begley that his son had a drug problem and had stolen the gun from him. The information regarding the recovery of the stolen firearm was provided to the State Police who investigated the original firearm theft.
On 12/8/07, EnCon Police Officer Chris Dwyer was on foot patrol on a section of property owned and maintained by the Meriden Water Company in the Town of Berlin.
After walking for approximately 1/2 mile from the road, Officer Dwyer discovered fresh ATV tracks on the snow. Officer Dwyer followed the tracks and eventually heard someone in the woods talking. Officer Dwyer walked through a wooded area and discovered an ATV parked on the trail. Two subjects were standing to the side of the ATV. As Officer Dwyer approached the two subjects he saw that there was a trailer attached to the ATV. Inside the trailer were the remains of two male deer. One of the deer was an 8-point buck. The head had been cut away from the body. The other deer was a 7-point buck. The body and the head of this deer were fully intact. Neither deer had a deer permit attached as is required by state law. Both subjects were escorted back to the road where EnCon Police Officer Steve Stanko and members of the Berlin Police Department met Officer Dwyer. Officer Dwyer seized the ATV, trailer and the deer as evidence. Both subjects have an extensive record for illegal hunting and other criminal violations. They were charged with Illegal Deer Hunting, Hunting without a license, Criminal Trespass 1st degree, Negligent Hunting 3rd degree, Operating an unregistered ATV and Operating an ATV without written permission of the property owner.
On 12/15/07, EnCon Police Officers Steve Stanko and John Hey responded to a complaint of illegal hunters in the same block of Meriden Water Company property in Berlin where Officer Dwyer had arrested two subjects on 12/8/07. Officer Stanko located fresh boot print tracks that exited a vehicle in a one-way direction into woods adjacent to the vehicle. Officer Stanko and Hey followed the tracks approximately 300 yards into the woods where they encountered a subject walking towards them carrying a muzzle-loading firearm. Officer Stanko determined that the firearm was loaded and that the subject was one of the two subjects arrested by Officer Dwyer on 12/8/07 at the same location. The subject was arrested for illegal deer hunting and the muzzleloader was seized.
Assist State Police with Snowstorm
On 12/13/07 the State was hit with a major snowstorm that resulted in the State Police being overwhelmed with disabled vehicles and motor vehicle accidents throughout the region. The State Police contacted the EnCon Police and requested that EnCon officers assist them by responding to calls on the I-91, I-84 and the other major state highways. Western District EnCon Police officers handled 30 incidents ranging from single disabled vehicles to motor vehicle accidents and multiple tractor-trailers blocking the interstate highway.
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Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police
Captain Raul Camejo