Game Warden cases: On the Electronic Hunt for Violators

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Game warden cases: On the electronic hunt for violators

A fair number of people seem unable to grasp the fact that electronic communication leaves a trail very easily found and followed by just about anyone, including law enforcement.

Post something on Facebook, a message board or an online marketplace and the whole world can see it. And don’t think emails and text messages simply evaporate into the ether after they are read. They don’t.

Increasingly, game wardens, who long have made cases by following physical trails of clues through the woods and fields and waterways, are making cases by following electronic trails on computer and cell phone screens.

And some of those criminals leave really easy-to-follow trails.

Earlier this month, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries game wardens made one of these cases when they followed a trail found on Internet ad site.

The person openly solicited for a fake Louisiana boat registration. Seems he had a boat for which he could not obtain a legal registration.

So he offered to buy an illegal one.

LDWF undercover agents answered the ad and offered to sell the guy a false registration for $200.

He bit – bought the fake registration from the officers, then allegedly registered the vessel in his name.

Officers arrested him.

Turns out, there was a good reason he couldn’t legally register the boat – it had an “altered” hull identification number, something commonly found on stolen boats.

The 24-year-old suspect was cited for possessing a motorboat with altered hull identification number, injuring public records and filing false public records. He faces as much as five years in jail and a $5,000 fine for each of the records charges.

Officers confiscated the boat, motor and trailer.

Texas game wardens regularly make cases based on electronic evidence.

We’ll start this week’s selection of reports of recent cases and incidents worked by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens with a handful showing the variety of ways wardens follow these electronic trails.

But we’ll also throw in some more traditional cases just to show that there’s still a lot of old-fashioned criminals, and old-fashioned law enforcement work, out there.

On Sept. 2, Travis County Game Wardens Christy Vales and Braxton Harris were on patrol, checking dove hunters when they noticed two hunters in a field adjacent to a residence.
After checking the first hunter, they were unable to locate the second hunter they had seen earlier.

Shortly after driving the outer parts of the field, they found their second hunter crouched down in the tree line.

When asked to produce his hunting license, he stated that his wife just bought it that day and that it was up at the house.

The wardens loaded the hunter and his birds up in the truck and took a ride to the house.

The wife of the hunter stepped out with an online purchase receipt for his hunting license.

The wardens noticed the time of purchase on the receipt and asked to see the hunter’s cell phone.

Based on the time the hunter called his wife and the time on the receipt, the hunter had called his wife and told her to buy his license just as the wardens pulled into the field.

The hunter admitted to hunting without his license hours before the wardens arrived.

Citations issued and seven doves were seized.

Cases pending.

On the afternoon of Sept. 3, Travis County Game Wardens Christy Vales and Braxton Harris were checking two dove hunters, one of whom possessed 15 doves – the daily limit – and the other hunter had 12 birds.
They also had a pile of 10 doves they claimed belonged to a friend who had left the field earlier.

Both claimed they hadn’t hunted that morning. But during questioning concerning the 10 birds left behind by their friend, the two subjects mentioned that they had been texting him to see if he was going to hunt with them this afternoon.

The wardens asked to view the text messages to support their story.

After viewing the text messages, the wardens saw several messages to support their story, but also saw several messages to that same friend bragging about how many birds they had taken that same day in the morning.

The hunters admitted to hunting that morning and both were both cited for being over their daily bag limit.

Several citations were issued and their birds over their daily limit were seized.

Cases pending.

The La Porte Communications office received a call Sept. 13 from an individual who resided in California.
The complainant stated that he was on a Chinese website when he found a posting by a fisherman bragging and posting several photos of all the fish that he was catching.

The photos and website information were forwarded to Captain Eddie Tanuz, who in turn contacted the complainant in California.

The photos showed an individual in possession of four ice chests filled with fish, with most of the fish appearing to be under legal minimum size.

The photos also showed a fisherman standing in the area of what appeared to be the east end of Galveston Island.

This information was forwarded to Galveston County Game Wardens Ray Canales and Antone Jackson, and on the evening of Sept. 15, they caught the violator on the east end of Galveston Island in the process of setting an illegal gill net.

Cases pending.

On Sept. 15, Fort Bend County Game Warden Barry Eversole, with some email assistance from Galveston County Game Warden Bobby Kana, made contact with an individual who had placed an ad offering waterfowl mounts for sale on Craig’s List.
Sale of migratory birds or parts of migratory birds is prohibited by state and federal law.

Working in plain clothes, Warden Eversole met the individual and bargained a deal to purchase a pair of mounted wigeon.

Case pending.

Aug. 21, Ellis County Game Warden Jeff Powell received an Operation Game Thief report about a white-tailed deer having been shot during closed season.
The caller witnessed the suspect shoot the deer, but the only information she was able to give or remember was the first name of the suspect, the college he attended, the make of car he drove, and that he lived in a suburb of Dallas.

Warden Powell called the college he attended, and drove countless neighborhoods to no avail.

Having very little information to work with, Warden Powell contacted a DPS analyst out of Garland to assist.

In less than 30 minutes, the DPS analyst had a name and driver’s license number.

On Sept. 2, Warden Powell drove to the address and located a subject who matched the description and was standing in front of the same make of car the complainant described.

Warden Powell obtained a full confession and a written statement.

Case pending.

Sept. 10, Tarrant County Game Warden John Padgett cited two individuals for hunting mourning dove over bait.
The owner of the property was cited along with one other individual.

The landowner and three other friends had been cited for the same violations at the same location on Sept. 3.

The landowner asked Warden Padgett if he was working the following weekend, and if Warden Padgett wanted to write him another citation.

He invited Warden Padgett to come on back, because, he said, they would be hunting there again.

Cases pending.

Tarrant County Game Warden John Padgett made contact Sept. 11 with a dove hunter and his children.
When asked if they had shot any birds, the hunter replied “no.”

One of the hunter’s sons asked, “What about that bird you shot and let us play with, that we threw in the bushes?”

The hunter asked his son to go and get the bird – a mockingbird.

Cases pending.

Jefferson County Game Wardens Colt Crawford and Kirk Jenkins responded to a call on Sept. 10 from the sheriff’s office concerning someone shooting doves in the South Dove Zone, where dove season opens Sept. 23.
The wardens arrived at the location and approached the hunters and asked what they were hunting.

The subjects stated they were hunting mourning doves and pulled several from their hunting vests.

Warden Jenkins began looking around on the ground and saw bird seed which, upon further investigation, he discovered the subjects had placed all around the area they were hunting.

Cases pending.

Dimmit County Warden Gene Fernandez and Maverick County Warden David Thorne were coming out of a Dimmit County ranch gate on Sept. 11 when they observed a pickup traveling down the road loaded with several burlap sacks spray-painted black in the bed of the pickup.
The wardens, knowing painting sacks black to help hide them in the bed of trucks is a common smuggling tactic, decided that they needed to take a closer look.

When the wardens tried to initiate a traffic stop, the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed.

A pursuit ultimately led to the pickup going through a few ranch fences and the occupants bailing out.

With the help of air, ground and K-9 units, officers apprehended 12 individuals.

Evidence at the scene indicated narcotics smuggling activity by the group, and the fleeing vehicle turned out to have been stolen. It was recovered and turned over to the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office.

Lamar County Game Warden Bryan Callihan recently received information about a private lake which had been baited to illegally attract teal for the coming teal season.
On Sept. 11, Warden Callighan, assisted by Red River County Game Warden Daniel Roraback set up on the site and videotaped the entire hunt which took place that morning.

They filed twelve cases on four men for hunting over bait, placing bait to attract, unplugged shotgun, taking illegal ducks, no hunting license, and no migratory bird stamp.

On opening weekend of dove season, Bell County Warden Justin Valchar was checking a group of hunters when he noticed there was one less individual than he’d originally counted.
One of the hunters approached Valchar and “made eyes” at a nearby barn.

Warden Valchar approached the barn and noticed a vest with 14 dove and shotgun shells sitting in a feed trough.

Warden Valchar then noticed someone’s knee poking up through the floor boards of the barn.

He ordered the individual to come out.

When asked why he was hiding under a snake infested barn, the subject replied that he did not have a hunting license.

Cases filed and pending.

On Sept. 8 while patrolling the Aransas Channel, San Patricio Game Warden Albert Flores inspected a vessel and found 50 undersize red snapper.
Citations were issued and the fisherman sent home with an empty cooler.

On Sept. 18, Hidalgo County Game Warden Ira Zuniga filed on six hunters for no hunting licenses, no hunter education certificate and hunting mourning doves in closed season; 25 doves were seized.
Subjects pulled out a 2010-2011 Outdoor Annual and showed warden that they were legal.

Warden Zuniga provided them with a new 2011-2012 Outdoor Annual with the correct dates and several pink slips with orders to speak to the judge.

Game Warden Santana Torres received a call Sept. 20 from the Cameron County Constable’s Office that there were several individuals at the East La Blanca Jetties on South Padre Island keeping oversize red drum.
Warden Torres, Game Warden Mark Vela, and Game Warden Dan Cantu headed towards the jetties and waited for individuals to load up and head home, but not before an inspection by the wardens waiting nearby.

A total of 17 citations were issued for no fishing license, oversize red drum, and undersize speckled trout.

Also on Sept. 20, Sgt. James Dunks and Warden Santana Torres along with Mechanic David Kimball patrolled the Gulf of Mexico onboard the Capt. Williams.
They discovered a large gill net just past the surf between the jetties and the Mexico border.

The net was so long – three miles – it took approximately 4 to 5 hours to get it in the boat.

Wardens estimated 2,500 to 3,000 dead sharks were entangled in the net.

They then went back to the Coast Guard station and picked up Warden Dan Cantu and went back offshore to pull a one-mile long line they had also discovered.

Wardens Marcus Vela and Dave Lewis met them at the station to help get the net off the boat and dispose of it.


BY Shannon Tompkins
Shannon Tompkins covers outdoor recreation and natural resource issues for the Chronicle.

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Dena, those are all very interesting. Just goes to show you how public cyber-world is.....not private at all. Celebrities and sports figures are finding that out. Thanks for posting it!