21-03-2006, 01:10 PM
Police break up deer-poaching ring
Five Eagle Point adults and two teens were charged with various game crimes
By MARK FREEMAN
Mail Tribune
State police on Friday broke up a ring of black-tailed deer poachers from the Eagle Point area who illegally shot numerous animals at night and left much of the meat to rot, then videotaped their exploits, authorities say.
Five adults 18 to 20 years old and two juveniles were arrested Friday, some on felony charges, as part of a three-month investigation into a series of poaching incidents last fall, the Oregon State Police said.
Evidence includes a video of two teenage brothers standing proudly with a dead 9-by-7-point buck. In another video, two suspects recount their near-capture by an OSP trooper in early December.
The case was pieced together after seven January search warrants yielded more than a dozen guns, at least 12 sets of deer antlers, countless pictures, videos, ammunition and a bag containing the beards of 35 wild turkeys, court papers show.
More adults and juveniles have been identified as suspects and more charges are expected for various similar or related crimes, according to the OSP.
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"After 15 years of fish and wildlife cases, this is probably the biggest big-game case I’ve ever worked," said OSP trooper and lead investigator Jim Collom, who works in the department’s Fish and Wildlife Division.
Based on March 15 indictments by a Jackson County grand jury, the case swirls largely around 20-year-old Stephen Price, an Eagle Point man who formerly held a permit to trap beavers, muskrats and other furbearers from the Denman Wildlife Area in White City.
Price, 20, of Eagle Point was indicted on two counts of aggravated first-degree animal abuse, six counts of first-degree theft of black-tailed deer and several misdemeanors.
The animal abuse charges, which are felonies, allege the malicious killing of an opossum and a deer, according to the indictment.
The theft charges are felonies because they allege the taking of publicly owned deer, whose restitution value is set in Oregon at $800 — just above the $750 threshold for felony theft.
Arrested Friday on one felony count and two misdemeanors was Ashley Morgan, an 18-year-old Eagle Point woman identified in court papers as Price’s girlfriend.
Also arrested were Garrett L. Bradshaw, 18, of Eagle Point; Timothy L. White, 20, of Eagle Point; and Seth M.G. Kirk, 20, of White City.
The OSP did not identify the juveniles who were referred Friday to the Jackson County Juvenile Department as part of the case.
But court papers identified 16-year-old Merton Bradshaw, Garrett Bradshaw’s brother, as a suspect whose house on Highway 140 was searched.
During a search of Price’s house in the 100 block of Odell Street, police found a video of Merton and Garrett Bradshaw standing next to a 9-by-7-point buck deer while Price says it’s "the Bradshaw brothers, tearing it up again," according to a police affidavit filed in court.
A Sept. 21 video shot at night after legal hunting hours shows Price stabbing an already shot deer, the affidavit states.
A Dec. 3 video allegedly shot by Merton Bradshaw shows Price recounting their near-capture earlier that day, according to the affidavit. In the video, Price says they were driving down an unnamed road with "a big old 4-point buck in our pickup, bloody floor mats, a stater (OSP trooper) come up right behind us."
But the group pulled into a driveway and the trooper went past them, Price states in the video.
The time frame and Price’s descriptions match a poaching complaint police received earlier that evening off Rogue River Drive near Eagle Point, the affidavit states.
The investigation began after police received a series of poaching complaints around Eagle Point last fall.
Based on anonymous tips and other information, the OSP identified Price and the Bradshaws as suspects in the cases, the affidavit says. One informant also said Price had bragged about having more than a dozen fresh deer antlers in his shed, a police affidavit states.
When interviewed by police on the morning of Jan. 7, the Bradshaws denied involvement. Simultaneously, however, police surveillance of Price and Morgan’s apartment helped develop the big break in the case.
OSP Trooper Janelle McFarland, while in an unmarked police car, followed Price and an unidentified female driving in Morgan’s Honda Civic from their apartment to a house in the 6800 block of Agate Road near White City, the affidavit states.
When they reached the residence, the Civic backed toward the residence and the trunk opened, the affidavit states. McFarland saw two males and a female talking near the trunk, then a grocery- style plastic bag was removed from the trunk, according to the affidavit.
Later that morning during a police interview at his apartment, Price told OSP Lt. Jeff Williams that he would give him $1 million if Williams found any deer meat in his freezer or refrigerator. When Williams found none, Price then pulled a fake $1 million bill from his wallet.
A search of the shed revealed no antlers but blood and pieces of meat on the floor, court papers state.
The next day, police returned to the Agate Road house, where a consent search revealed six guns, ammunition, cameras, videos and a bag containing the turkey beards in the attic crawl space. They also found a white plastic bag containing nine wrapped packages of deer meat in the freezer, the affidavit states.
The resident of the Agate Road house, identified in the affidavit as Daniel Rogers, told police he had met Price through Kirk and that Price said he needed to leave the items there because "he was getting into trouble," the affidavit states.
No charges were filed in connection of the seized turkey beards, Collom said.
The case is the largest known local poaching ring here since 1992, when OSP troopers arrested six Central Point-area teens for the killing and wasting of 10 black-tailed deer and one cow elk during a five-month spree.
The teens admitted to driving around the Rogue Valley about once a week, using spotlights to find and shoot animals at night.
Like the current case, the deer shot in the ‘92 case were left mainly unbutchered. The poachers also admitted to meeting regularly to barbecue elk steaks outside of one of the teen’s Central Point homes.
The teens pleaded guilty to several misdemeanor charges.
Mvh
Kim
Jeg er ikke fejlfri,men det er så tæt på at det skræmmer mig.
Five Eagle Point adults and two teens were charged with various game crimes
By MARK FREEMAN
Mail Tribune
State police on Friday broke up a ring of black-tailed deer poachers from the Eagle Point area who illegally shot numerous animals at night and left much of the meat to rot, then videotaped their exploits, authorities say.
Five adults 18 to 20 years old and two juveniles were arrested Friday, some on felony charges, as part of a three-month investigation into a series of poaching incidents last fall, the Oregon State Police said.
Evidence includes a video of two teenage brothers standing proudly with a dead 9-by-7-point buck. In another video, two suspects recount their near-capture by an OSP trooper in early December.
The case was pieced together after seven January search warrants yielded more than a dozen guns, at least 12 sets of deer antlers, countless pictures, videos, ammunition and a bag containing the beards of 35 wild turkeys, court papers show.
More adults and juveniles have been identified as suspects and more charges are expected for various similar or related crimes, according to the OSP.
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"After 15 years of fish and wildlife cases, this is probably the biggest big-game case I’ve ever worked," said OSP trooper and lead investigator Jim Collom, who works in the department’s Fish and Wildlife Division.
Based on March 15 indictments by a Jackson County grand jury, the case swirls largely around 20-year-old Stephen Price, an Eagle Point man who formerly held a permit to trap beavers, muskrats and other furbearers from the Denman Wildlife Area in White City.
Price, 20, of Eagle Point was indicted on two counts of aggravated first-degree animal abuse, six counts of first-degree theft of black-tailed deer and several misdemeanors.
The animal abuse charges, which are felonies, allege the malicious killing of an opossum and a deer, according to the indictment.
The theft charges are felonies because they allege the taking of publicly owned deer, whose restitution value is set in Oregon at $800 — just above the $750 threshold for felony theft.
Arrested Friday on one felony count and two misdemeanors was Ashley Morgan, an 18-year-old Eagle Point woman identified in court papers as Price’s girlfriend.
Also arrested were Garrett L. Bradshaw, 18, of Eagle Point; Timothy L. White, 20, of Eagle Point; and Seth M.G. Kirk, 20, of White City.
The OSP did not identify the juveniles who were referred Friday to the Jackson County Juvenile Department as part of the case.
But court papers identified 16-year-old Merton Bradshaw, Garrett Bradshaw’s brother, as a suspect whose house on Highway 140 was searched.
During a search of Price’s house in the 100 block of Odell Street, police found a video of Merton and Garrett Bradshaw standing next to a 9-by-7-point buck deer while Price says it’s "the Bradshaw brothers, tearing it up again," according to a police affidavit filed in court.
A Sept. 21 video shot at night after legal hunting hours shows Price stabbing an already shot deer, the affidavit states.
A Dec. 3 video allegedly shot by Merton Bradshaw shows Price recounting their near-capture earlier that day, according to the affidavit. In the video, Price says they were driving down an unnamed road with "a big old 4-point buck in our pickup, bloody floor mats, a stater (OSP trooper) come up right behind us."
But the group pulled into a driveway and the trooper went past them, Price states in the video.
The time frame and Price’s descriptions match a poaching complaint police received earlier that evening off Rogue River Drive near Eagle Point, the affidavit states.
The investigation began after police received a series of poaching complaints around Eagle Point last fall.
Based on anonymous tips and other information, the OSP identified Price and the Bradshaws as suspects in the cases, the affidavit says. One informant also said Price had bragged about having more than a dozen fresh deer antlers in his shed, a police affidavit states.
When interviewed by police on the morning of Jan. 7, the Bradshaws denied involvement. Simultaneously, however, police surveillance of Price and Morgan’s apartment helped develop the big break in the case.
OSP Trooper Janelle McFarland, while in an unmarked police car, followed Price and an unidentified female driving in Morgan’s Honda Civic from their apartment to a house in the 6800 block of Agate Road near White City, the affidavit states.
When they reached the residence, the Civic backed toward the residence and the trunk opened, the affidavit states. McFarland saw two males and a female talking near the trunk, then a grocery- style plastic bag was removed from the trunk, according to the affidavit.
Later that morning during a police interview at his apartment, Price told OSP Lt. Jeff Williams that he would give him $1 million if Williams found any deer meat in his freezer or refrigerator. When Williams found none, Price then pulled a fake $1 million bill from his wallet.
A search of the shed revealed no antlers but blood and pieces of meat on the floor, court papers state.
The next day, police returned to the Agate Road house, where a consent search revealed six guns, ammunition, cameras, videos and a bag containing the turkey beards in the attic crawl space. They also found a white plastic bag containing nine wrapped packages of deer meat in the freezer, the affidavit states.
The resident of the Agate Road house, identified in the affidavit as Daniel Rogers, told police he had met Price through Kirk and that Price said he needed to leave the items there because "he was getting into trouble," the affidavit states.
No charges were filed in connection of the seized turkey beards, Collom said.
The case is the largest known local poaching ring here since 1992, when OSP troopers arrested six Central Point-area teens for the killing and wasting of 10 black-tailed deer and one cow elk during a five-month spree.
The teens admitted to driving around the Rogue Valley about once a week, using spotlights to find and shoot animals at night.
Like the current case, the deer shot in the ‘92 case were left mainly unbutchered. The poachers also admitted to meeting regularly to barbecue elk steaks outside of one of the teen’s Central Point homes.
The teens pleaded guilty to several misdemeanor charges.
Mvh
Kim
Jeg er ikke fejlfri,men det er så tæt på at det skræmmer mig.