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Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter
Dorchester County – The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) continue to investigate a hunting accident that occurred on Friday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 a.m., in the 2500 block of Wesley Church Road near Crapo.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Craig T. Summerfield, 34, of Aberdeen was preparing to go hunting for the day when his muzzleloader rifle discharged. The shot traveled 130 yards and struck William C. Skipper, 48, of Trappe in the arm as he sat on the front step of his hunting lodge located on the adjacent property to Summerfield. Skipper was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury with non-life threatening injuries.
Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office and Dorchester County EMS assisted NRP with the incident. The incident remains under investigation.
Garrett County – On Friday, Oct. 19, the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged a Pennsylvania man with possession of a black bear during closed season.
Telford McNeal Hoover, 52, of Confluence, Pa. was charged after NRP responded to a report of a trash bag containing a partial black bear carcass which was found in the parking lot of the Keyser’s Ridge Auto/Truck Stop on Oct. 17. An investigation ensued and with the assistance of the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Hoover was located, interviewed and charged with possession of black bear during closed season and littering.
Hoover allegedly picked up the bear in Pennsylvania after it was struck and killed by another vehicle because he wanted the meat. After skinning the bear, he dumped the carcass in Maryland because it had Pennsylvania ear tags. A court date of Feb. 1, 2008 has been scheduled for Hoover in Garrett County District Court.
Garrett County – On Saturday, Oct. 20, at 3:10 p.m., the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged Adam Rounds, 18, of Grantsville with attempting to exceed the deer bag limit, possession of untagged deer parts and failure to tag deer before removing from place of kill near Grantsville.
Rounds was allegedly hunting from a stand with an untagged deer at his feet when officers located him on private property off of Fire Clay Road. NRP located and charged Rounds after receiving a report of possible illegal hunting activity from a concerned citizen.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police encourages citizens to report illegal hunting activities by calling the Catch-a-Poacher 24-Hour Hotline at 1-800-635-6124. The anonymity of the caller is guaranteed.
Garrett County – On Saturday, Oct. 20, at 11:30 a.m., the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged two Garrett County men with hunting violations near McHenry.
NRP stopped and checked Anthony D. Hinebaugh Jr., 31, of Accident and George T. Hensely, 38, of Oakland after observing the truck the two men occupied parked along Oakland Sang Run Road.
Officers discovered two trash bags containing partial deer carcasses over the embankment near the truck. Through further investigation two untagged deer, one skinned and one quartered were located in the bed of the truck. The two had allegedly killed the deer at another location and had just thrown the bags over the embankment before NRP arrived.
Hinebaugh was charged with hunting without a license, failure to tag deer before removing from place of kill, and possession of untagged deer parts. Hensely was charged with failure to tag deer before removing from place of kill, possession of untagged deer parts, and removing the head and or hide of deer before check in.
Garrett County – On Saturday Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., the Maryland Natural Resources Police referred a 16-year-old Accident boy to the Department of Juvenile Services for multiple hunting violations.
NRP responded to Foxtown Road for a report of a shot fired from a vehicle. Through their investigation, NRP located the vehicle and found the youth to be in violation of possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle, shooting from and or across a public roadway, hunting on private property without written permission, failure to tag deer before removing from place of kill, and hunting from a vehicle. NRP seized a deer and a muzzleloader rifle from the juvenile.
The boy and the muzzleloader were released to the custody of his parents.
St. Mary’s County – On Monday, Oct. 22, the Maryland Natural Resources Police investigated a hunting accident that occurred on private property off of Big Chestnut Road near Clements.
Reuben Stauffer, 20, of Loveville fell 35 feet from a homemade tree stand after the front part of the stand gave way. Stauffer was not wearing a safety harness at the time of the fall. The accident occurred around 5:15 p.m. Stauffer crawled approximately a half mile to the roadway where a passing motorist saw him and call 911 at 6:40 p.m. He was flown to R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries.
October 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.
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