A suspect who allegedly committed numerous wildlife crimes in California was recently apprehended and booked into the Kern County Jail, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The suspect was apprehended after an exhaustive poaching investigation. On September 24, CDFW officials executed two search warrants in connection with the investigation, one at a Bakersfield residence and the other at a property in Stallion Springs.
“In the months leading up to the search, a wildlife officer identified a suspect who was involved in numerous poaching incidents,” the CDFW stated. “The evidence gathered by the officer established probable cause to believe the suspect illegally harvested several deer without first procuring a hunting license or deer tags, took deer out of season and some of the deer included does and spike bucks that were not legally harvestable.”
The defendant is charged with unlawful deer take, unlawful deer possession, hunting without a license, taking more than three times the daily bag limit, and taking fish and wildlife for profit.
The search warrant served at the Bakersfield house allegedly discovered “significant evidence connecting the suspect to numerous wildlife crimes,” according to the CDFW.
During the search, CDFW officials reportedly discovered 931 black bass, many containers of suspected deer meat, six pairs of deer antlers, and packed bear meat.
“Samples of the deer and bear meat, along with samples of the antlers were sent to CDFW’s Wildlife Forensics Lab where the DNA will be analyzed to determine the sex and genetic profile of each sample,” the CDFW stated. “With this information, the investigating officer will be able to determine exactly how many deer and bears the suspect was in possession of.”
Anyone with information about animal crimes can report it to the CALTIP hotline at (888) 334-2258.
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