EnCon Police

EAST DISTRICT

Illegal Deer Hunting Arrests
On 12/2/06, Environmental Conservation Police Officer Hans Danielson and Sgt. Bob Zabilansky responded to a complaint in Montville from a landowner who had stated that there was an illegal hunter in a tree stand on his property. Officer Danielson walked to the tree stand and saw that it was unoccupied, but did observed a person in camouflage clothing holding a shotgun hiding behind a nearby tree. The hunter admitted that he had been sitting in the tree stand and that he was not wearing orange clothing because he did not want to be seen by anyone. The tree stand was approximately 200 feet from a nearby residence. The subject was charged with Hunting Deer without Written Consent, Hunting Deer without Fluorescent Orange Clothing and Carrying a loaded Firearm within 500 feet of a Building. His shotgun and ammunition were seized as evidence.

On 12/4/06 at 4:30 p.m., Environmental Conservation Police Capt. John Smutnick and Officers Chris Dwyer and Hans Danielson responded to a complaint of illegal deer hunting in Windham. A resident told the officers that an illegal hunter, dressed in camouflage clothing, had been dropped off by a vehicle and was now on nearby property. The officers entered the property to search for the suspect. Officer Dwyer found the suspect and ordered him to put down his shotgun. The subject ran from the officer and was tackled and arrested after a brief struggle. The 36 year old male was charged with numerous offenses including Interfering with an Officer, Criminal Trespass 3rd, Carrying a Firearm while under the Influence, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon and Illegal Deer Hunting.

House Struck by Bullet
On 12/5/06, Environmental Conservation Police Capt. John Smutnick, Sgt. Mike Enright and Officer Ed Pyznar responded to a complaint that a bullet had struck a house in Coventry. The officers recovered the bullet that had penetrated the side of the house and proceeded to put a hole in several clothing items in a closet and came to rest in an interior wall. The spent bullet was recovered and a suspect was located hunting in nearby woods. The bullet and the rifle have been submitted to the State Police Forensics Laboratory for testing. The officers determined that the hunter was a convicted felon and seized six firearms from him at the scene and from his residence. The case is still pending.

East District?s 2006 Officer of the Year Nomination
Environmental Conservation Police Officer Joe Ruggiero is a 12-year veteran of the EnCon Police Division. He demonstrates his interest in the position by consistently generating a high volume and diverse variety of incidents. In this past year, Officer Ruggiero generated 271 incidents, including 100 arrests and 33 warnings. Some highlights of the past year include:
The investigation of graffiti on the Messerschmitt Pond Dam resulted in the arrest of the vandal.
While patrolling Water Company property for illegal hunting activity he tracked an ATV and arrested two illegal hunters with an extensive history of hunting violations.

While checking a hunter on private land, he observed that the hunter?s gun safety was off. His investigation resulted in multiple charges of Hunting without Written Consent, Hunting with a Shotgun Capable of Holding more than Three Shells, and Hunting Deer with other than Slugs.

He checked a vehicle parked in a public road shining its headlights in to a field. He found a loaded rifle in the vehicle and arrested the operator.

While patrolling water company property for illegal hunting activity he encountered a hunter covered in leaves in an attempt to hide from the officers. He was charged with multiple hunting violations.

While checking deer hunting activity Officer Ruggiero overheard two hunters on his VHF radio and was able to locate an archery hunter in a tree stand with an arrow knocked after sunset.

While checking a wildlife management area after sunset he encountered a man and woman in a parked vehicle. His investigation revealed that there was a Protective Order against the man being in the woman?s presence resulting in his arrest.

Officer Ruggiero investigated the burglary of two department buildings. His investigation resulted in the arrest of a suspect for two counts each of Burglary 3rd and Larceny 3rd and the recovery of chain saws and power tools.

Officer Ruggiero and Officer Ramos responded to Beseck Lake Boat Launch to assist the State Police with a stolen vehicle with two occupants. The EnCon Police Officers found one of the suspects nearby and arrested him at gunpoint and recovered narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

He investigated the drowning of a 15 year-old boy at Miller?s Pond State Park.

He investigated a boating accident on the Connecticut River in Middletown that resulted in the death of one person as a large vessel sank.

He investigated the drowning of a young victim at Uncas Pond.

He investigated the drowning of a 19 year-old man at Miller?s Pond State Park.

He responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at Hammonasset Beach State Park, which resulted in the arrest of a man on numerous charges.

The highlights listed above illustrate the variety of enforcement efforts that Officer Ruggiero routinely handles on a yearly basis. He willingly accepts all assignments and has demonstrated his leadership abilities as a Field Training Officer that entails the instruction of new officers.


MARINE DISTRICT

Illegal Deer Hunting
On 11/26/06, Environmental Conservation 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 12/9/06 they 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 12/9/06, Environmental Conservation 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 Failure to have a Seafood Dealers License, and four written warnings were issued for shellfish, lobster, blue crab and license violations.

Marine District?s 2006 Officer of the Year Nomination
The Marine District?s nominee for Officer of the Year for 2006 is Environmental Conservation Police Officer Jeff Samorajczyk. Officer Samorajczyk is a seven-year veteran of the Division and has spent his entire career in the Marine District. He is very active in the realm of marine fisheries, shellfish and boating enforcement. He is also very knowledgeable in the areas of waterfowl and deer hunting enforcement. In January of 2006, Officer Samorajczyk transferred to the Central Marine Sector. He quickly became familiar with the area and made arrests for undersized striped bass in Old Saybrook, an arrest for lobster violations in Branford and numerous arrests in Guilford for undersize and over the limit of blackfish. He also made an arrest in Bridgeport in which the subject was on a bicycle and had the bass hidden in a backpack. The subject had three prior convictions for possession of undersize striped bass. Officer Samorajczyk actively patrolled Hammonasset Beach State Park during the summer. As part of this patrol area, he was always willing to work any shift assigned to him. He was responsible for the arrest of a subject in the park for driving under the influence, reckless driving and public indecency. He participated in a vessel safety training exercise in which he had to put on a survival suit and jump off the 42? Wesmac into the Connecticut River. He is a member of the Division?s Chemical Immobilization Team and received a letter of thanks and commendation from a citizen that he assisted with a wildlife problem this year. Officer Samorajczyk is recognized for his positive attitude, attention to duty and willingness to handle any task assigned to him without complaint.


WEST DISTRICT

Illegal Deer Hunting Arrests
On Saturday 12/2/06 Environmental Conservation Police officers responded to a complaint of illegal deer hunters on RT 118 in Harwinton. EnCon Police officers found a camp set up on private property and eventually located five hunters. None of the hunters had written permission to deer hunt on the property. In addition to the lack of permission, officers determined that one hunter who did not have deer permits also had a loaded rifle in a motor vehicle. Another officer located a second individual who also had a loaded rifle in a motor vehicle. A third hunter was hunting without fluorescent orange clothing. While officers were interviewing the illegal hunters a fourth person came out of the woods. This individual denied that he was hunting and stated that he did not have a weapon. EnCon Police officers requested the assistance of a police dog to search for a weapon and the Torrington Police responded with their patrol dog "Brodie". After a search of the area "Brodie" located a loaded rifle hidden under a log approximately 50 yards from the camp. It was determined that the rifle belonged to fourth individual.
EnCon Police officers arrested the five individuals on the following charges:
Loaded Weapon in a Motor Vehicle (2 individuals), Illegal Deer Hunting (2 individuals), Negligent Hunting 4th Degree and Failure to Wear Orange (2 individuals) and Interfering with an Officer (1 individual)

Burglary Arrest
On 12/14/06, Environmental Conservation Police Officer John Hey served an arrest warrant on an individual for a series of burglaries that occurred at Southford Falls State Park in Southbury in May of 2006. The individual was arrested for 5 counts of Criminal Trespass 2nd degree, 5 counts of Burglary 3rd degree, 2 counts of Criminal Mischief 3rd degree and one count of Larceny 3rd degree. Officer Chris Dwyer conducted the investigation after a complaint was received from park personnel of the theft of a large quantify of copper pipe and tubing from the maintenance garage at Southford Falls. Officer Dwyer determined that the subject had entered the garage on at least five occasions stealing the copper.

West District?s 2006 Officer of the Year Nomination
Environmental Conservation Police Officer Tim Hill has been an officer for over 12 years and currently patrols in the Northwest Sector in Hartford and Litchfield Counties. He is respected by the public and fellow colleagues for his dedication, enthusiasm, professionalism and willingness to cooperate. As a former National Park Service Ranger Officer Hill has excelled in recreational law enforcement and started his career in Connecticut in the now defunct Parks Enforcement Unit serving diligently at Black Rock State Park for several years. The staff as well as the public especially noticed his efforts in the campground, as he maintained the ?family atmosphere?. He still performs this function today at the Austin Hawes Campground in American Legion State Forest.

As an ATV instructor, Officer Hill has been involved in intensive training sessions with our own officers as well as officers from other agencies. He has taken great efforts to apprehend violators on private and state lands and his ATV patrols are often a cooperative effort with the MDC Police whose properties are intermingled with Connecticut State Parks and Forests in his patrol area. Officer Hill is also a certified mountain bike officer, another skill he employs in his recreational enforcement duties.

Officer Hill?s experience is far more than just recreational enforcement pursuits. As a well-rounded officer he is comfortable enforcing Connecticut?s fishing, hunting and boating laws. He can be regularly seen on the Connecticut River and other waterways patrolling in a conventional vessel as well as a PWC, as he is a member of the Personal Water Craft Unit. Also, while on the Connecticut and Farmington Rivers Officer Hill has been diligently performing cooperative patrols with officers from both Eastern and Western Districts, especially the anadromous species of herring, shad and striped bass.

In addition to his patrol duties Officer Hill regularly gives presentations to requesting organizations including youth groups, scouts, fish and game clubs and hunter education classes.

Several incidents in the past year reflect Officer Hill?s dedication to duty. In February, while working closely with Agency Police Officer Crossman and State Park personnel, Officer Hill was able to apprehend an individual that was stealing gasoline from the Peoples State Forest Unit, securing reimbursement for the department. In May, Officer Hill, while off duty, observed a vehicle enter Algonquin State Forest in Colebrook after hours. After confronting the occupants of the vehicle, they fled at a high rate of speed and abandoned the vehicle in another part of the forest, only to be apprehended by Officer Hill and a responding trooper with a K-9. Both individuals were wanted on multiple warrants involving criminal activity related to heroin use. In September, another incident involving a suicide at Talcott Mountain State Park in Simsbury was handled with excellent cooperation, discretion and compassion in a very difficult situation involving multiple agencies.

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Captain Raul Camejo
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police

markp860

Seafood Dealer Inspections

Anyway we can know the names of the dealers found in violation so we can make sure not to visit these shitty establishments?

Great work as usual guys

Bob & Mag

WTG guys! Thanks for posting this.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of food, electricity, gas, and oil, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

Smoke free 4 Months!

H'Islander

Slam dunk - Love ya, Man!!!

BTW - Second the request for the seafood dealer names - I don't want to partonize them either.

ARCTEKJim

raul ...you the man ...thanks ...happy.prosperous new year......jim

Andy

Another busy month great job Encon.

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http://cthuntingnshooting.com/

EnCon Police

The violations were not health related, they were for regulatory violations such as undersized lobsters, etc.

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Captain Raul Camejo
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police

markp860

Capt. I understand it was not a health violation. I just don't want to support a store that does not comply with the regs. You guys caught them with these violations I can only begin to imagine what else they have gotten away with.