Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter
Allegany County – On Wednesday, June 13, at 11:20 p.m. the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged two adults and one juvenile with alcohol violations in the campground at Rocky Gap State Park.
Darrell Brandon Nott, 24, of Columbia was charged with furnishing alcoholic beverage for underage consumption. Anjali Madan, 18, of Silver Spring was charged with possession of an alcoholic beverage by a person under 21 years of age. A 16-year old girl of Gaithersburg was issued a juvenile citation for possession of an alcoholic beverage by a person under 21 years of age. She was released to the custody of her father.
Garrett County – On Wednesday, June 13, the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged an Oakland man for driving while intoxicated twice in one day.
At 4 p.m. NRP stopped Nicholas Jerry Hepp, 33, of Oakland for driving erratic on Rt. 495 near Swanton. After taking field sobriety tests Hepp was placed under arrest and transported to the Maryland State Police McHenry Barrack. Hepp took a breath test, which showed a result of a blood alcohol concentration of .22 percent. He was charged with driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol per se and driving a vehicle while impaired by alcohol. He was released to a sober driver.
At 6:35 p.m. Hepp was observed driving at Pine Hill Road and Rt. 495 by NRP and again placed under arrest and transported to the Maryland State Police McHenry Barrack. Hepp took another breath test, which showed a result of a blood alcohol concentration of .19 percent. He was charged with driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol per se, driving a vehicle while impaired by alcohol and failure to obey a lawful order of a police officer. He was held on $3000 full cash bond in the Garrett County Detention Center over night. A court date of August 22 has been scheduled for Hepp in Garrett County District Court.
Queen Anne’s County – On Tuesday, June 12 at 3 a.m., the Maryland Natural Resources Police rescued a Clarksville man and a Montgomery Village woman from the Chesapeake Bay after a six and a half hour search.
NRP started the search after receiving a report of a disabled personal watercraft (PWC) in the area of the red buoy at Bloody Point on Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. Paul Mahoney, 47 and Nancy Anthony, 50 were located by NRP approximately five miles south of the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge at 3 a.m. The officer heard whistles blowing along with Anthony yelling. NRP transported the couple back to their vehicle parked at Sandy Point State Park where they refused medical treatment but stated they were very tired.
NRP helicopter Natural 2 and the U.S. Coast Guard assisted with the search.
Talbot County - On Friday, June 8, the Maryland Natural Resources Police seized 1,800 feet of illegal gill net from the Chesapeake Bay near Sharps Island Light. At 9:50 a.m. NRP received a complaint from a boater that a 38-foot workboat had dropped net in the area and then headed towards Tilghman Island. At 11:05 officers located and seized three 600-foot sections of new anchored monofilament gill net.
Used for the commercial harvest of fish, a gill net is maintained in a vertical position in the water with sinkers or floats. It ensnares fish by means of a mesh too small to permit passage of the body of the fish or withdrawal of the head once the posterior margin of the gill covers has passed through the mesh. A drift gill net is not secured or anchored to the bottom, including a net rigged with up to 20 pounds of weight at each end. It must be attended by the licensee in a boat within two miles of the net while it is in waters of the Chesapeake Bay, or within one mile when the net is in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, its coastal bays and their tributaries, or a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. An anchor gill net is a net that is stationary in the water and secured to the bottom by conventional anchors or heavy weights.
NRP is continuing to investigate the incident and urge citizens to report illegal fishing and hunting activities by calling the Catch-a-Poacher 24-Hour Hotline at 1-800-635-6124. The anonymity of the caller is guaranteed.
Worcester County – On Tuesday June 12, the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) charged Kover Michael Ellingsworth, 34, of Ocean City with multiple boating violations for his involvement in the May 28 hit-and-run boat accident that occurred on the Isle of Wight Bay near 49th Street in Ocean City.
NRP started their investigation on Monday, May 28 at 10:45 p.m. when a 25-foot vessel from Delaware with four individuals was heading east on the bay in the direction of 49th Street. Another vessel traveling south struck the Delaware vessel broadside. The southbound vessel became airborne and two of the three occupants were ejected from the boat. The operator of the vessel stopped and pulled his passengers onboard and fled the scene continuing south.
Ellingsworth contacted NRP after viewing a broadcast on WBOC TV-16 and stated that he was the operator of the vessel that left the scene. Additional witnesses of the accident also came forward after viewing the broadcast.
Ellingsworth was charged with failure to yield right of way, failure to maintain proper lookout, leaving the scene of an accident without rendering aid / providing information and two counts of negligent operation. A court date of August 3 has been scheduled for Ellingsworth in Worcester County District Court.

June 19, 2007
The 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.
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 449,000 acres of public lands and 17,000 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 12 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.