Maryland Natural Resources Police Blotter

Talbot County – On January 6, 2011, the Maryland Natural Resources Police charged Norman Benjamin Murphy, 59 and Dennis Louis Jones, 59, both of Tilghman, Md. with possession of undersize oysters. The charges were the result of a routine check of a commercial seafood establishment in Tilghman. During this check, officers located six bushels of oysters which contained 52 percent undersize oysters.

Talbot County – On January 6, 2011, NRP charged Richard Nicholas Fluharty, 24 of Tilghman, Md. with four counts of harvesting oysters while his oyster license is suspended and one count of possessing 27 percent under size oysters. Fluharty was observed unloading six bushels of oysters. A check of the buying stations records revealed that Fluharty also sold oysters on December 30 and 31 and January 4.

St Mary’s County – On January 7, 2011 at 11:30 a.m., NRP investigated a commercial boating accident that occurred in Saint Clements Bay and St Patrick Creek in St. Mary’s County. Louis Charles Hodges of Colton Point, Md. was operating a 20-foot commercial oyster vessel in St. Patrick’s Creek when he struck a navigational aide. The impact injured Hodges, and two other occupants of the vessel. All three individuals were transport to St. Mary’s hospital for minor injuries.

Queen Anne’s County – On January 6, 2011, NRP charged two individuals with numerous deer hunting violations after being identified by a complainant for shooting at a deer from a vehicle in the 200 block of Ell Downes Road in Henderson, Md. on November 30. When officers responded to the suspect’s residence, they located six deer that were not properly checked in. John Franklin Dixon III, 44 and Jonathan Lee Dixon, 19 both of Henderson with hunting on private without written permission, failing to fill out big game harvest record before removing it from place of kill, failure to wear fluorescent orange, possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle, hunting deer from a vehicle and negligent hunting. Jonathan Dixon received an additional charge of shooting from, on or across a roadway. A trail is set for March 16, 2011 in the District Court of Maryland for Queens Anne’s County.

Frederick County – On January 7, 2011, at 12:30 p.m., NRP and the Maryland State Police located the body of missing person, Robert Allen White, in the Potomac River approximately three tenths of a mile downstream from where he was last spotted. The body was located when a MSP helicopter from Frederick flew the Potomac River in the area of the Point of Rocks. Aboard the helicopter were members of MSP and NRP. NRP had been searching for White since December 29 when the vehicle he was driving was found on December 29 near the Point of Rocks.

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 is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages nearly one-half million 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 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 Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov