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Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter
Baltimore City - On Monday, April 16, Michael Sean Buchanan, 47, of Fresno, Calif., failed to appear in Baltimore City District Court related to charges of operating a tree expert business without a license.
Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) filed the charges after the Maryland Forest Service received a complaint from a neighbor of a client of Buchanan's business, Tree Solutions, Inc. of Baltimore. The complainant alleges that in February of 2006, Buchanan's crews dropped a portion of a tree on her home during tree care operations on the adjacent property, causing over $6,000 worth of damage. Buchanan was reportedly unresponsive to the complainant's attempts to get resolution, and she had to spend weeks during the coldest portion of the year with a hole in her roof and other significant outstanding property damage while trying to get him to repair the damages.
The trial was originally scheduled for April of 2006. Buchanan failed to appear at that trial and sometime afterward, moved to Fresno. In November of 2006, a warrant was issued for Buchanan failing to appear for trial, which was served in December.
According to District Court officials, just prior to trial a woman identifying herself as Buchanan's mother called the court and advised that Buchanan was deceased, having passed away at St. Agnes Hospital in March of this year. She refused to provide a death certificate to substantiate the allegation.
A subsequent search of Social Security death records showed no deaths to a Michael Buchanan or a Sean Buchanan anywhere in the United States in the past six months.
The trial date has been rescheduled for July 16 in Baltimore City District Court.
Calvert County – On Thursday, April 12, Maryland Natural Resources Police charged Robert Henry Short, Jr., 32, of Mechanicsville for operating a tree expert business without a license and advertising or soliciting an unlicensed tree business. Short is the owner of Short’s Tree Service and S&W Tree Service in Mechanicsville.
The Maryland Forest Service received a complaint that Short allegedly entered into a contract to perform tree services with an individual. NRP’s investigation found Short advertised his business as a licensed, bonded and insured service in the phone book and on the Internet.
A trial date of July 2 has been scheduled for Short in Calvert County District Court.
Calvert County – On Wednesday, April 18, Maryland Natural Resources Police served two warrants to Jerry Douglas Tasker II, 24, of Silver Spring. Tasker was charged with operating a tree expert business without a license and false advertising or soliciting an unlicensed tree expert business in November of 2006. His trials were scheduled for January in Calvert County District Court. Tasker failed to appear at trial, and the warrants were issued.
The charges were filed after a complainant alleged that she contracted with Tasker for tree care services totaling $5,265 and paid a deposit of $2,600, but that Tasker did not complete most of the work and did not provide any refund. The complainant stated that she had to hire someone else to perform the outstanding work and is still out the deposit. The Maryland Forest Service reviewed the listing of licensed tree experts and found that Tasker did not possess a tree expert license, and that no licensees are listed as working for Tasker Tree Service.
A trial date of May 21 has been rescheduled for Tasker in Calvert County District Court.
Washington County – On Wednesday, April 18, opening day of the spring bearded turkey season, the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged four Maryland men and two Pennsylvania men for hunting turkey with the aid of bait.
Samuel Earl Bowers, 55, of Williamsport was charged off of Resley Road near Hancock; David Allen Mason, 48, of Clear Spring was charged off of Woodmont Road near Hancock; Reed Elsworth Flowers, 82, of Hancock was charged just north of Interstate 68 on Sidling Hill; Mark Anthony Vidas, 34, of Hagerstown was charged off of Broadfording Road near Clear Spring; and Ronald Eugene McIntyre, 60, of Greencastle, Pa. and Randy Eugene Martin, 55, of Chambersburg, Pa. were charged off of Cresspond Road near Clear Spring. All individuals were allegedly hunting turkey with the aid of bait on private property.
On Saturday, April 21, NRP charged Allan Franklin Fletcher, 83, of Little Orleans with having a loaded weapon in a vehicle (ATV) and hunting turkey with the aid of bait on private property off of Riser Road near Hancock. NRP seized as evidence a 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition, a mouth diaphragm turkey call and an electronic turkey call.
A person may not hunt or attempt to hunt wild turkeys by the aid of baiting, or on or over any baited area. Baiting involves placing, exposing, depositing, distributing or scattering of shelled, shucked or unshucked corn, wheat or other grain, salt, or other feed that would lure, attract, or entice wild turkeys to, on, or over any areas where hunters are attempting to hunt them. The maximum penalty for a person found guilty of this offense is $1,500 for a first time offender.
April 25, 2007The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) is the enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With an authorized strength of 280 officers and a dedicated staff of civilian and volunteer personnel, the NRP provide a variety of services in addition to conservation and boating law enforcement duties throughout the State of Maryland. These services include homeland security, search and rescue, emergency medical services, education, information and communications services on a round the clock basis. NRP is the only police force aside from the Maryland State Police that has statewide jurisdiction.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 446,000 acres of public lands and 18,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 11 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov