Game Commission Field Reports - April 26, 2007

Here are the new Field officer reports. The following links are found on the GC site. From the home page look for reports and minutes in the lower left corner. Click on it and look for the Field Reports.


South Central:
Franklin County WCO Barry A. Leonard and his Deputy WCOs, during March, finalized several cases that resulted in all defendants being found guilty. In one case, WCO Leonard and Deputy WCOs Ron Kline, Dustin Ulrich and Richard Bowman served an arrest warrant on an individual for game law violations in November. The defendant was taken before the judge and entered a guilty plea to charges of possession of a deer unlawfully taken, loaded firearm in a moving vehicle, spotlighting while in possession of a firearm, and spotlighting after 11 p.m. Total fines were $1,900 plus court costs. In another case, four individuals received a total of five citations for attempting to take a deer at night with a light in January. In a joint investigation with the State Police, it was discovered that the men – a grandfather, his son, and two grandsons – went after a deer one night. One grandson ran the light, the other had the .270 cal rifle, the grandfather was a passenger, and his son drove. A deer was spotted, and the grandson laid the rifle across the roof of the SUV. When he shot, the bullet went into the roof, exited into the passenger compartment striking the grandfather in the head. The bullet came out his forehead and broke the passenger window. Fortunately, the man survived with relatively minor injuries.



Northwest:

Crawford County WCO Mario L. Piccirilli, on April 4, noticed a little beagle running around in the Pymatuning Wildlife Management Area as he was picking up a road-killed deer. “I attempted to catch the dog to no avail,” he said. “I remembered that a rabbit hunter from Pittsburgh stopped at my office on Jan. 12, and reported that he lost his female beagle named ‘Red.’ I checked my notebook for his number and called the hunter, who lives in Pittsburgh, and gave him a description of the beagle. He said based on the description, it really sounded like his little beagle. He told me he was leaving Pittsburgh and would be here in about 2.5 hours. When he arrived, I told him where I last saw the beagle and he started his search. He no sooner left my office when FCC worker Peggy Fox stopped in to tell me a dog was running around outside; a quick check revealed that the dog was the little beagle. I immediately called the hunter on his cell phone and the two were soon reunited. I do not know who was more excited, the hunter or “Red,” who was whining and wiggling from her nose to the tip of her tail.”


Southwest:

Westmoreland County WCO Rod Ansell reports that he recently received a call from someone who claimed that there was a skunk under the bed and that it already had sprayed. “When I got into the bedroom it smelled of skunk, but as I finally chased the animal out from under the bed and the black streak headed for the door,” he said. “I identified it as the complainant’s cat. It had apparently gotten into a skunk the night before!”


Northcentral:

Northcentral Region Field Forester Gary Glick, on March 31, worked with 15 sportsmen and women who volunteered their time to enhance wildlife habitat on Camp Mountain, SGL 134. The Loyalsock Road and Gun Club organized the workday and the volunteers consisted of people from several other hunting clubs in the Hillsgrove area. “This work crew cut thousands of striped maple and beech saplings and then sprayed herbicide the stumps to inhibit resprouting,” he said. “The work was done to enhance the site conditions for established regeneration in an area that is scheduled for a commercial timber sale later in the year. The rest of the weekend was spent clearing trails and planting white oak seedlings. Many of the sportsmen talked of giving back to ‘the mountain’ that has given them so many good times and memories.”


Northeast:

Lackawanna County WCO Mark Rutkowski reports that, while returning from Bradford County after completing annual CPR training, he was traveling on a rural dirt road in Wyoming County and encountered a vehicle stopped in the roadway. As WCO Rutkowski approached, he noticed a male occupant behind the wheel. Suddenly the driver noticed WCO Rutkowski approaching him through the rear view mirror. The driver immediately accelerated away from the patrol vehicle, proceeding through a stop sign, and fled at a high rate of speed. WCO Rutkowski pulled to the area where the vehicle was sitting, and could smell a strong odor of something burning. After a quick look around, WCO Rutkowski decided to follow the individual due to the very suspicious activity. Rutkowski followed the path of the vehicle and eventually caught up close enough to see the vehicle in front of him. “The vehicle pass through two more stop signs, still moving at a high rate of speed,” he said. “At one point, I got close enough to get a registration number on the vehicle and relayed it to the Region Office in Dallas. The registration came back to an elderly female from northern Bradford County. This heightened my suspicions.” WCO Rutkowski then contacted PSP in Tunkhannock for assistance. “Minutes later, a State Police Trooper responded to the location, observed the suspect vehicle pass by him,” he said. “The Trooper initiated a traffic stop to question the individual about his suspicious behavior. Immediately the driver became very uncooperative, and a short scuffle ensued.” The suspect was handcuffed, and a search of his person revealed several items of drug paraphernalia, a quantity of substance that appeared to be methamphetamine. The suspect was taken for blood analysis and questioning. During the investigation it was determined that the suspect had an extensive criminal background involving illegal drugs. He regularly used the area the WCO saw him at for his illicit drug activity. “WCO’s jobs are inherently dangerous, due to the nature of the work,” he said. “But ,we are not only dealing with armed poachers anymore. The increase of illegal drug manufacturing and use of those drugs in rural areas increases the likelihood of these types of encounters. WCOs must be extra vigilant when approaching people involved in any suspicious behavior.” Lackawanna County WCO Mark Rutkowski reports that, while returning from Bradford County after completing annual CPR training, he was traveling on a rural dirt road in Wyoming County and encountered a vehicle stopped in the roadway. As WCO Rutkowski approached, he noticed a male occupant behind the wheel. Suddenly the driver noticed WCO Rutkowski approaching him through the rear view mirror. The driver immediately accelerated away from the patrol vehicle, proceeding through a stop sign, and fled at a high rate of speed. WCO Rutkowski pulled to the area where the vehicle was sitting, and could smell a strong odor of something burning. After a quick look around, WCO Rutkowski decided to follow the individual due to the very suspicious activity. Rutkowski followed the path of the vehicle and eventually caught up close enough to see the vehicle in front of him. “The vehicle pass through two more stop signs, still moving at a high rate of speed,” he said. “At one point, I got close enough to get a registration number on the vehicle and relayed it to the Region Office in Dallas. The registration came back to an elderly female from northern Bradford County. This heightened my suspicions.” WCO Rutkowski then contacted PSP in Tunkhannock for assistance. “Minutes later, a State Police Trooper responded to the location, observed the suspect vehicle pass by him,” he said. “The Trooper initiated a traffic stop to question the individual about his suspicious behavior. Immediately the driver became very uncooperative, and a short scuffle ensued.” The suspect was handcuffed, and a search of his person revealed several items of drug paraphernalia, a quantity of substance that appeared to be methamphetamine. The suspect was taken for blood analysis and questioning. During the investigation it was determined that the suspect had an extensive criminal background involving illegal drugs. He regularly used the area the WCO saw him at for his illicit drug activity. “WCO’s jobs are inherently dangerous, due to the nature of the work,” he said. “But ,we are not only dealing with armed poachers anymore. The increase of illegal drug manufacturing and use of those drugs in rural areas increases the likelihood of these types of encounters. WCOs must be extra vigilant when approaching people involved in any suspicious behavior.”


Southeast:

Lancaster/Lebanon Counties WCO Steve Martin reports that after conducting a lengthy investigation into what was originally an incident of a deer having been shot at night in January, 11 citations were filed in Lebanon County. The investigation was a cooperative effort on the part of Deputy WCOs Ed Shutter, Dave Fidler and Greg Graham, as well as Schuylkill County WCO Will Dingman. The citations were filed against Chad Gibson and Jason Copenhaver, both from Jonestown, Lebanon County. Charges included unlawful use of lights while hunting, purchasing licenses and hunting while on revocation, false statements to WCOs and unlawful possession of road-killed deer. Both of the suspects are on mandatory revocation for the shooting of a deer at night that occurred in 2002.