Game Warden Blotter

Written by Administrator

Friday, 26 June 2009

WARDENS REWRITE RESTAURANT'S MENU Fried crappie and white bass taste great, but think twice before ordering it when out to eat. Hill County Game Warden Douglas Volcik received a call about a café that served fried crappie and white bass on Friday nights. After he gained more information, he coordinated a sting operation with his captain, Jim Ranft, Johnson County Game Warden Scott Kirkpatrick and the Region 2 director of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Inland Fisheries Division, Brian Van Zee. On a Friday, Inland Fisheries District Team Leader John Tibbs and Assistant District Team Leader Michael Baird finished eating at the restaurant and confirmed that the café was indeed selling fried crappie and white bass. Tibbs notified Volcik, and the wardens went to the restaurant. Statements were obtained and about 100 fillets of uncooked and 25 cooked and breaded fillets of crappie and white bass were seized. Citations were issued for illegal sale of protected freshwater fish and selling fish taken from water where sale is prohibited. The owner of the café received a citation for the illegal sale of protected freshwater fish. Cases are pending. SNAKE HUNTER CAUGHT WITH BLACK-TAILED RATTLESNAKE Tickets were issued to a man caught hunting snakes from a road in Terrell County. Game Warden Saul Aguilar watched the man as he was working a light from his vehicle for an hour and a half into the night. Aguilar saw the snake hunter collect a black-tailed rattlesnake from the public road. When contacted, the man claimed he had no success and the night seemed pretty slow. Aguilar informed the snake hunter that his activities had been observed. After locating the snake and other invertebrates, Aguilar cited the man for collecting from a public road and no hunting license. NO PROFILING REQUIRED FOR DOPE CASES After towing a stranded boat to the public ramp at Possum Kingdom Lake, a man gave Young County Game Warden Brent Isom and Game Wardens Steve Urban and Jake Simmering a cell phone and wallet that had been left on the boat dock. During the attempt to locate the owner of the phone, wardens noticed the phone had a marijuana logo on the face. Upon further inspection, a marijuana seed was found in the phone’s earpiece. A few minutes later, the shirtless cell phone and wallet owner was located sporting a marijuana tattoo. The owner denied any knowledge of all the clues and consented to a search of his vehicle. The wardens found a stash of marijuana. Cases pending. ODD DISPLAY INTERRUPTS DEPUTY’S DAY Something weird hanging on the wall of a Harris County home first drew the attention of a sheriff’s deputy. Then a game warden became involved. The deputy had been dispatched to a residence on a disorderly conduct call. The deputy said something weird was hanging on the wall at the home, and Harris County Game Warden Tim Holland was called. Holland identified the object upon arrival: It was a mounted redtailed hawk. The hawk was confiscated and charges are pending. NEW EXTINGUISHER SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUT TO USE While patrolling Calaveras Lake, Game Warden Derek Iden contacted a vessel and issued a warning to the operator for a fire extinguisher violation. After a few more hours of boat patrol, Iden passed by the same vessel and smelled burning marijuana. Iden contacted the vessel again, and the operator proudly displayed a functioning fire extinguisher. Iden explained that he did not come back to check on their fire extinguisher but rather the odor of burning marijuana. A small tin box with marijuana and rolling papers was found with a halfsmoked marijuana cigarette in a beer can. The man with the marijuana said he should have left the marijuana in the truck when his party went to buy a working fire extinguisher. Case pending. WARDENS TRY TO KEEP PEACE FOR HOLIDAY The Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for Uvalde County Game Wardens Henry Lutz, Dennis Gazaway and Rachel Kellner. Together they wrote 26 citations while working the Nueces River. Citations were issued for operating a motor vehicle in a riverbed, no fishing license, minor in possession of alcoholic beverage and possession of narcotic paraphernalia. Kellner asked one fisherman for his license, and when he pulled the license out of his wallet, a small baggie containing cocaine residue also came out. The wardens also received calls of an altercation between a landowner on the Nueces River and people trespassing on his property. The landowner brandished a shotgun during the altercation, in which the trespassers threw rocks and beer bottles at the landowner and his son, allegedly striking the son with one of the thrown objects. Deputies stopped the vehicle, and it was learned that two of the four occupants had earlier been issued citations by the wardens for operating ATVs in the riverbed. Three of the four occupants of the vehicle were arrested on several charges. POACHING INCIDENT LEADS TO 12 CITATIONS A witness reported seeing a man shoot at two deer from his vehicle between Jonestown and Lago Vista in western Travis County. Hays County Game Warden James Michael and Williamson County Game Warden Turk Jones responded to the poaching call, which came in about midnight. The witness recorded the license plate number from the vehicle, and the vehicle and driver were located. Their investigation led them to the other three occupants of the vehicle during the time of the criminal activity. After the wardens had concluded their investigation, 12 citations were issued to four individuals. Cases pending. BEES STRIKE BOAT IN LAGUNA MADRE Wade fishermen discovered their vessel had been taken over by a swarm of bees in the Laguna Madre and called for help. The Laguna Vista Fire Department responded, and rescuers also called Game Warden Sgt. James Dunks. Dunks reached the stranded fishermen by boat. With the help of the fire department, the bees were fumigated and the vessel was returned to its owner. UNWANTED TURKEY IS A CHICKEN-FEED GOBBLER Hays County Game Warden Eric McCarstle responded to a woman’s complaint about a turkey that kept beating up on her rooster. The turkey would show up at feeding time, fight the rooster and then eat the chicken feed. With a broom in one hand and a tarp in the other hand, Eric was able to capture the turkey and relocate it. CATFISH CATCHER WOULDN’T HEED WARNING An undercover operation helped stop a man from selling catfish he caught at a community lake in Wichita County. Game Warden Pat Canan received information over several days about the man, who was catching more than the limit of catfish in the lake. Canan cited the man for being over the daily bag limit of catfish. Several days later, Clay County Game Warden Eddie Hood gave the same man a warning for having more than the daily bag limit. It was suspected the man was selling the fish. Hood and Canan contacted a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent to work undercover. He purchased several bags of catfish from the man. The wardens then approached and cited him for selling fish without a dealer’s license. Cases pending. HOUSE FOUND WITH FAWNS, ALLIGATOR, RACCOON, POT Orange County Game Warden Clint Caywood received a tip about two fawns in a cage at a house in Vidor. The informant also said an alligator lived in an aquarium at the house, a raccoon was in a cage and marijuana was in various stages of growth and harvest in and around the property. With the help of Jefferson County Game Warden Steve Satchfield and a sheriff’s deputy, consent was obtained, and a search was conducted. Everything was found with the exception of the fawns. The violator did not know how to care for them, and they starved. Several marijuana plants were seized. One two-foot alligator and one raccoon named “Chucky” were seized as well. Multiple cases pending.

Last Updated ( Friday, 26 June 2009 )