Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter

Allegany County – On October 25, 2010, the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) charged Donald Sneckenberger, 75 of Hagerstown, Md. and Doy Sneckenberger, 46 of Hagerstown, Md. with hunting bears with the aid of bait. This offense occurred in the Little Orleans area of Allegany County.

Baltimore County – On October 25, 2010 at 9:20 p.m., NRP charged Daniel Scott Pieper, 23 of Whitehall, Md. with hunting at night and possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle. Pieper was stopped as officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle on Hunter Hill Road. NRP seized two loaded weapons from Pieper’s truck. The weapons seized during the incident were a loaded Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle equipped with a silencer, night vision scope and a laser sight and a loaded .22 caliber rifle.

Garrett County – On October 25, 2010, Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) charged the following individuals;

Donald David Gutermuth, 53 from Baldwin, Md. was charged with hunting bears with the aid of bait and Lee Cliford Brenneman, 63 from Accident, Md. was charged with the use of attractants to lure bears. This incident occurred on private land near Bittinger.

Charles Dock Crigger II, 52 from Middle River, Md. was charged with hunting bears with the aid of bait, failure to wear fluorescent orange and failure to maintain visual contact between permitees. Earnold Lee Crigger, 52 from Middle River, Md. was charged with hunting bears with the aid of bait and failure to maintain visual contact between permitees. Jerome Stanley Ziemski, 55 from Baltimore, Md was charged with hunting bears with the aid of bait and failure to maintain visual contact between permitees. These charges occurred on private property near Swanton.

Rex Allen Penick, 55 of Westminster, Md. and Terri Lynn Penick, 48 from Westminster, Md. were both charged with hunting bears with the aid of bait. This incident occurred on private land near Grantsville.

James Bennett Wood, 42 from Westminster, Md. was charged with hunting bears by the aid of bait in the Oakland area of Garrett County.

Garrett County – On October 26, 2010, NRP charged Allen Eugene Soth, 55 from Swanton with hunting bear with the aid of bait, hunting bears without the permitee and possession of deer during closed season. This incident occurred on Backbone Mountain near Swanton.

Worcester County – On October 27, 2010 NRP charged James Melvin Steward, 33 from Fruitland with casting rays of artificial light onto fields and woods with a weapon in possession and possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle. This incident occurred in the area of Old Furnace Rd and Whitesburg Rd near Snow Hill.

The Maryland Natural Resources Police is the enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With an authorized strength of 247 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), which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 461,000 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