New Jersey Conservation Officers' Association

August 2008
NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife
Monthly Highlights
Bureau of Law Enforcement

Northern Region

CO Hutchinson responded to a complaint of an individual keeping box turtles he caught in the wild in a pen on his property. The officer observed the pen from the road and interviewed the individual concerning the possession of the turtles. The individual admitted to collecting the turtles and placing them into the pen. The officer seized the turtles and the appropriate summonses were issued.

While patrolling the Columbia Lake WMA for fishing activity, CO Sutton observed a pick up truck parked near the river. He stopped and decided to observe the truck with binoculars to determine if anyone was fishing at the river. The CO observed an individual stack several coolers in the bed of the truck and then stand on top of them. The CO then observed the individual reach up and tie the end of a rope to a branch above him. The CO observed the other end of the rope was tied around the individual’s neck. Immediately, the CO raced around the other side of the river and reached the individual as he was swinging by his neck. The CO was able to pick the individual up on his shoulders and untie the rope from around his neck before lowering him to the ground. The CO contacted EMS who transported the victim to the hospital in stable condition. The victim explained to the CO that he was distraught over his wife leaving him.

Lt. Panico and CO Williamson responded to a complaint of trash being dumped at the Paulins Kill River WMA. Upon inspecting several pieces of debris, the COs were able to determine an individuals name and address. The COs proceeded to the residence and interviewed an individual who said the debris was hers and she had given her son money to take it to the county disposal site. She said her son had just left on a fishing trip and was probably using the money she had given him to fund the trip. The individual was contacted and the appropriate summons is pending.

Northern Region COs actively responded to and approved deer depredation permits and mechanical noise making permits to many local farmers.

COs Kuechler and Ziegler participated in the marine fish operation of the Raritan Bay area and adjacent tributaries. The CO’s conducted a boat patrol of the lower Hackensack River and issued summonses for clamming in condemned waters, clamming without a license, sub-legal blue crabs and sub-legal summer flounder.

Central Region

COs Martiak, Paul and Szulecki attended the NECLECA sponsored Hunting Incident Investigation School in Windsor Locks, CT. Conservation Officers from approximately 12 other States as well as several officers from Canada participated in this week-long class.

COs Martiak and Mascio have been patrolling the marine waters for recreational fishing violations and finding a lot of violations in the areas around Keansburg, Morgan Creek and Sandy Hook. During a two day period, they issued 10 summonses for violations including: 1 undersize fluke, 13 undersize porgies, 1 undersize black sea bass, 5 bluefish over the limit, interference and littering.

Officers Szalaj, Mutone, McManus and Lt. Sich apprehended ten individuals for various wildlife management and motor vehicle violations on the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area. Violations included illegal possession of drug paraphernalia, after hours, the illegal possession of alcohol and no registration and insurance. One vehicle was placed in impound.

Lt. Sich working on information received, apprehended two individuals in possession of six undersize and two over the limit striped bass on the Rancoccas Creek. During the inspection it was also determined that the two individuals had illegally purchased resident fishing licenses after there identification proved that they were Pennsylvania residents.

Officer McManus was able to track down a subject who had illegally deposited a quantity of discarded furniture and trash on the Greenwood Forest WMA. In a subsequent interview the officer was able to obtain an admission by the suspect to the violation.

While on patrol in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, Officer Mutone came upon two individuals that were in a desolate section of the management area. With no means of transportation visible the officer became suspicious and questioned them as to how they got there. The two subjects were very apprehensive about answering the question and vague in their response. With no obvious violations and the fact that they were not in distress the officer let them continue on their way. A short time later, Officer Mutone located a campsite hidden in the woods. After questioning a person at the campsite, it was determined that these individuals had set up a detoxification site for recovering addicts and alcoholics. Apparently the subjects are dropped off and picked up at a predetermined time. The site was shut down and the appropriate summonses were issued.

Southern Region

While on routine patrol Conservation Officers Ely, Batten and Ciraolo had entered Menantico WMA. The officers observed two dirt bikers operating on the WMA. Shortly afterwards they observed a truck drive by them with the dirt bikes in the back and the officers did a motor vehicle stop on the truck. In interviewing the passenger Officer Batten observed that the subject was very nervous and constantly asked if he was under arrest and why he was being asked his name. It became clear that the subject was not being truthful and he was handcuffed. After establishing his true identity, it was determined that there were warrants for his arrest. Meanwhile, Officers Ely and Ciraolo were dealing with the trucks driver. It was quickly established that the driver had a suspended driver’s license. At one point the driver wanted to make a phone call to have someone drive his truck. He stated that his phone was in a backpack in the truck so Officer Ciraolo checked the backpack and next to the phone was a bag of marijuana. Additional drugs were found by Officer Ciraolo in the truck. A check of the two dirt bikes discovered that the passenger’s bike had been stolen. Both subjects were arrested, transported to Millville PD. Summonses for violating WMA regulations were also issued.

Officer Vazquez was patrolling Cedar Lake WMA when he observed 5 subjects swimming. As he drove up he observed a subject near the vehicles attempt to hide something. Further investigation uncovered a small pipe. The subsequent interview resulted in Officer Vazquez locating a bag of marijuana and alcohol in one of the vehicles. Summonses for swimming and alcohol were issued and the subject with the pipe was transported to Monroe PD for criminal charges.

Officer Vazquez was checking Penbryn Lake WMA when he observed a truck backed in near the lake after legal hours. Officer Vazquez drove up to the two subjects in the truck and discovered that the driver was an individual that he had apprehended for swimming earlier in the month. In interviewing the occupants Officer Vazquez came to believe that there was CDS in the vehicle. Upon further investigation the occupants admitted to possession of marijuana. Officer Kille responded and assisted Officer Vazquez and both subjects were transported to Winslow Police Department and charged with criminal and Fish and Wildlife charges.

While on routine patrol Officer’s Batten and Fox located two individual that appeared to be fishing on a railroad trestle. As they exited the patrol vehicle they noticed one of the fishermen pick up a bushel basket and start to run down the tracks. Officer Batten chased the man down and prevented him from disposing of all the contents of the basket. The basket was found to contain short blue-clawed crabs. Both individuals were charged with short crabs and the man that ran was charged with interference.

Officers Batten and Fox stopped in the Turkey Point WMA to conduct inspections of fishermen. As they walked up to one man in a vehicle the man immediately engaged the officers and repeatedly stated that they had just arrived and the officers did not need to check them. Officer Batten established a dialog with the man and in short order the man agreed that the officers should “do their job” and had no problem with the officers conducting an inspection. A bucket containing 28 short blue-clawed crabs was located under the man’s truck. He stated that he had obtained the crabs earlier in the day at another location. The appropriate summons was issued.

CO Kille and CO Vazquez were on patrol in Winslow WMA when they encountered several individuals who were swimming and in possession of alcohol. When the officers requested identification, all individuals gave false names. The officers eventually were able to identify all of these people and found that one of them had active warrants for his arrest. At that point CO Kille informed the person with the warrants that he was under arrest. The individual then fled into the woods. CO Kille gave chase and was able to locate the individual hiding in the woods. The subject was then arrested. The appropriate criminal and Fish and Wildlife complaints were issued.

CO Toppin was assigned to assist an Iowa conservation officer who was investigating a New Jersey resident who had killed deer illegally in Iowa. CO Toppin found the antlers at a local taxidermist shop. Two sets of antlers were seized as evidence. Iowa will file the charges in their case.

CO Kille and CO Vazquez were on patrol in Penbryn WMA, Camden County. They encountered several individuals in the WMA after legal hours. During the inspection of the 5 young men the officers located suspected marijuana. One individual was arrested for possession of marijuana, and charged by the officers the other 4 subjects were released with Fish and Wildlife summonses. Once the officers had completed processing the subjects at the Winslow PD, they once again returned to the Penbryn WMA, where they encountered another group of people in the area after hours. These people were also found to be in possession of suspected marijuana, and once again the appropriate criminal and Fish and Wildlife complaints were issued.

CO Risher was on patrol with CO Fox in Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, in an area that has been a hotbed of illegal freshwater clamming. The officers found a motor vehicle in the area in which the officers could see equipment that is commonly used to harvest clams. The officers had a Park Police Officer to sit with the vehicle, while the COs went on a foot patrol in search of the clammers. The officers located the clammers and arrested 3 individuals. The clammers were found to possess over 4,800 clams and mussels. They were charged appropriately and released.

In another clamming case, CO Risher recently prosecuted a previous illegal clamming case in Pittsgrove Township Municipal Court. The Court approved CO Risher’s complaint for forfeiture of the vehicle used by the clammers and signed a court order turning it over to the Division.

COs Risher, Fox, Stites, and Risher were on patrol in Cedar Lake WMA were they found a group of individuals in possession of alcohol and suspected marijuana. The officers were assisted by the Monroe Township PD. The CO’s issued the appropriate complaints for wildlife violations and the Monroe PD filed the criminal drug charges. A short time after processing these first individuals the officers observed 6 more motor vehicles enter the management area. The officers stopped all 6 vehicles simultaneously and once again the appropriate Fish and Wildlife charges were filed. On the following day CO Kille was on patrol in Penbryn WMA when he encountered several people operating ATV’s illegally. He was able to stop one of the riders who claimed that he did not know the identity of the other riders. CO Kille asked CO’s Risher and Stites to assist him. An interview resulted in an admission that all of the riders were together. The Officers were led to the location of all the riders, and to one ATV which had been hidden. That ATV had a defaced serial number, and its operator admitted that it was indeed stolen. In an interesting twist one of the riders was a person that had been charged the night prior in the Cedar Lake incident. All of the riders gave full written statements and the appropriate criminal and Fish and Wildlife charges were filed.

Marine Region

COs Jones, Scott and Lt. Fresco conducted a surveillance of the Belford Co-op at the end of the July – August commercial fluke season. Fishing vessels were observed returning to the dock to determine if any vessels would off load prior to the legal 6:00 a.m. off load time. No vessels were observed off loading prior to that time. At 6:00 a.m., Lt. Fresco and CO Scott inspected all off loading vessels. Two violations were observed; land in excess of 500 pounds fluke, and possess for sale fluke measuring less than 14 inches. The appropriate enforcement actions were taken.

On 8/10/08 COs Dravis and Swift were inspecting vessels returning to the Belmar Municipal Ramp. A vessel with four fishermen aboard came to the ramp. They had three coolers containing a mix of 10 legal fluke and black sea bass, 3 short fluke and 2 short black sea bass. These individuals stated that the fish in the coolers were the only fish in their possession. CO Swift feeling suspicious that there were more fish, inspected the remainder of the vessel and uncovered an additional 15 short black sea bass in a plastic bag hidden under several life jackets. Each individual was issued summonses for the undersized fish.

While patrolling Morgan Creek in Old Bridge Township, COs Jones and Scott observed an individual using a cast net. This individual would remove fish from the net and place them in a backpack carried by his 10 year old daughter. After watching this individual for some time, the officers conducted an inspection. When asked, the individual stated he did not have any fish in his possession. CO Jones inspected the backpack and found undersized blue-claw crabs, 7 undersized porgy and 1 striped bass measuring 10 inches. Summonses were issued for the porgy and striped bass.

On August 17 Districts 2,3, 4 and 7 conducted a joint recreational marine fisheries enforcement operation on the Hackensack River, Newark Bay Complex, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. This operation involved 16 conservation officers and 3 deputy conservation officers in patrol vessels and on land. A total of 703 recreational fishermen and 12 recreational clammers were inspected, with a total of 49 summonses issued. A breakdown of the numbers and types of summonses are as follows: 15 – undersized fluke (for a total 35 fish), 5 – undersized striped bass (5 fish each), 4 – undersized black sea bass (for a total of 10 fish), 4 – undersized porgy (for a total of 23 fish), 2 – over limit bluefish ( 1 fish each), 1 – undersized tautog (1 fish), 1 – undersized weakfish (1 fish), 2 – undersized crabs (1 crab each), 3 – possession of mutilated fish, 2 – interference, 8 – clam without license, 1 – clam in condemned waters, 1- undersized clams. Written warnings were also issued for crabbing in the Newark Bay Complex. One notable incident involved CO’s Dravis and Swift inspection of a boat containing two fishermen. The fishermen stated they only had skates in the boat. When CO Dravis informed them that the officers would be inspecting their boat, one of the fishermen attempted to surreptitiously remove fluke from a bucket and mix them in with 10 skates that they had in a cooler. The officers found 13 undersized fluke. The fishermen had no legal sized fluke.

On July 29th 2008 Conservation Officers Petruccelli and Nicklow boarded the F/V Two Brothers as it landed a general category Sea Scallop trip at Dock Street Seafood in Wildwood. The officers discovered a 71 lb. overage stored in several buckets hidden in various locations on the vessel. For this violation, CO Pettruccelli and Nicklow seized the entire catch from the vessel and are preparing the case package for prosecution by National Marine Fisheries Service. Conservation Officers are charging the owner and operator for harvesting over the daily trip limit of sea scallops and the falsification of their Fishing Vessel Trip Report. CO Pettruccelli in June of this year, warned the captain of this vessel not to land over their daily trip limit of 400lbs. In addition, District 8 officers and NMFS agents apprehended this vessel, captain and owner in 2004 for the blatant abuse of federal sea scallop landing limits. The vessels owner and captain were charged and later plead guilty in federal court to using this vessel to harvest the limit of another vessel, which remained at the dock. The FV Two Brothers landed the quota of another vessel and since the owner of both vessels possessed a dealer’s permit, he attempted to conceal the overages by falsifying landing and dealer reports. Due to these new charges, this vessel owner and operator face enhanced penalties and the imposition of penalties suspended from 2004.

On August 12th Conservation Officer James observed the FV Brenda K land at Cold Spring Fish and Supply Co in Cape May. CO James conducted an inspection of the vessel, which landed scallops loose in a large plastic container and needed to bag them prior to offloading to the dealer. While aboard the FV Brenda K, CO James observed FV Capt Alec enter port and tie up at Cold Spring Dock. Since everything aboard the FV Brenda K appeared to be in order, CO James left the FV Brenda K to board FV Capt Alec. Upon boarding FV Capt Alec, CO James observed that the captain failed to complete the Fishing Vessel Trip Report. CO James also observed eight 50lb bags of shucked sea scallops along with additional scallops loose in a large plastic container. The loose scallops indicated a possible overage by the vessel. CO James maintained observation of both vessels pack out activity and documented overages from both. The FV Brenda K landed 422lbs, 22lbs over their limit of 400lbs. The FV Capt Alec landed 425lbs 25lbs over their landing limit of 400lbs. CO James seized the overages from both vessels and donated the seized product to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission in Atlantic City. CO James will be completing federal case packages for both vessels charging them with Summary Settlement violations with the National Marine Fisheries Service. In addition, charges for previous violations of the sea scallop landing limit issued by District 8 officers are pending on the FV Capt Alec.

On August 13th CO Trembley inspected a recreational vessel as it returned to a slip at Anchor Marina located on the Maurice River in the Matts Landing section of Cumberland County. The three occupants possessed three undersize striped bass, four undersize weakfish, 78 summer flounder of which 77 were undersize and 54 undersize blue crabs. The operator of the vessel admitted that all of the fish were caught using a compact net configuration, which resemble a collapsible fish pot with collection bag at one end. The operator of the vessel admitted that they had set the gear illegally in the Maurice River Cove section of the Delaware Bay. All six nets were stowed on the vessel. The operator of the vessel took responsibility for all of the violations. CO Trembley is issuing appropriate summonses for the illegal use of a net without a license, possession of undersize striped bass, weakfish, summer flounder and crabs, and the possession of over the limit of summer flounder.

In addition, CO Trembley seized the illegally used nets.

Training

Quarterly Firearms qualifications and training recently concluded for all Bureau Law Enforcement Personnel. This session consisted of plains clothes/off duty training with the firearm. Several Regional Firearms Instructors assisted with the training.

Quarterly Scoped Rifle qualifications were recently conducted for all Division certified Precision Rifle shooters.

Captain Brown assisted with the recent round of Conservation Officer III interviews in which three candidates were given offers of employment. As part of the process, all arrangements were made for the State mandated medical and psychological testing to be conducted.

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