News from the DNR Office of Communications

Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter

Garrett County -

  • On November 29, 2010 at 1:30 pm., the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) charged Joseph Brian Shaffer, 47 of Cumberland, Md with driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, driving a vehicle while impaired by alcohol, driving a vehicle while suspended, driving a vehicle while revoked, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Officers contacted Shaffer during a routine patrol on Wills Mountain Road near Cumberland.
     
  • On November 27, 2010 at 4 p.m., NRP charged Michael Brian Heslop, 32 of Friendsville, Md., with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol per se, driving while impaired by alcohol and hunting under the influence of alcohol. An NRP officer was patrolling the Savage River State Forest near Grantsville when he stopped a suspicious vehicle at Chestnut Ridge. Heslop was found operating the vehicle and suspected to be hunting and driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
     
  • On November 27 at 7:30 p.m., an NRP officer stopped a suspicious vehicle and discovered blood on the bumper and bed of the truck. Jeffrey Lane Savage, 42 of Elk Garden, West Virginia was suspected to be operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The officer recovered a loaded 30/30 caliber rifle from the vehicle. The investigation into the blood in the truck led the officer to Savage’s hunting camp, where he discovered a deer that had been cut up and not tagged or checked in as required by law. Savage was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol per se, driving while impaired by alcohol, possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle, failure to field tag a deer, failure to fill out a harvest record, failure to report deer and removing the head and hide before checking in deer. The deer was seized and donated to a needy family.
     
  • On November 27 at 11:44 a.m., NRP charged James Michael Merson, 46 of Eldersburg, Md., with possession of a deer during closed season. The violation was discovered during a routine check of hunters in the Milt Dewitt Road area of Garrett County. The officer found two antlerless deer that had been harvested illegally. Antlerless deer are not allowed to be harvested in Garrett, Allegany and Washington Counties on private lands between November 27 and December 9. The illegal antlerless deer were donated to needy families.
     
  • On November 25 at 7:05 p.m., NRP charged Michael Joseph Andres, 52, and John Ryan Andres, 21, both of Frostburg, with hunting deer with artificial light and weapon and hunting deer at night. The Andres vehicle was stopped on Church Run Road in Frostburg when it was observed shining a spotlight onto the field and woodlands. Officers seized a spotlight, Remington 243 caliber rifle, a knife and numerous rounds of ammunition. A February 9, 2011 court date in the District Court of Maryland in Garrett County has been set.
    •

    Frederick County –

    • On November 27, NRP investigated three hunting accidents that occurred in Frederick County during the opening day of deer season. A tree stand accident occurred on New Cut Road, in Rocky Ridge. The victim was a 51 year-old male who fell from a height of 15 feet when his foot slipped off the top rung of the ladder of the tree stand. The man was not wearing a safety harness at the time of the accident. He sustained injuries to his internal organs, back and ribs.
       
    • Officers responded to a second accident in the 7900 block of Jackson Court in Frederick. The responding officer found that a shotgun slug was fired and struck a house. Raymond Daryl Weeks, 51 of Frederick was charged with negligent hunting. The investigation is continuing.
       
    • NRP officers investigated an incident in which a house was struck by gunshot in the 8300 block of Water Street in Walkersville. The investigation is continuing.

    Worcester County – On November 24, at 10:15 p.m., NRP charged three individuals with jacklighting after the vehicle they were riding in was observed shining the vehicle’s headlights onto fields and woodland along Newark and Williams Church Roads. NRP charged Michael Cori Cluster, 26 of Berlin, Franklin Timothy Brinker, 21 of Selbyville, Del., and Robert Howard Patterson III, 23 of Berlin, with casting rays of artificial light onto field and woodland with a weapon in possession. A Remington 7mm rifle was seized.

      November 29, 2010

    Contact: Sgt. A.A. Windemuth
    410-260-8850 office | 410-713-8449 cell
    awindemuth@dnr.state.md.us

    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