EnCon Police Moderator
Registered: 03/01/04
Posts: 3899
Connecticut State Environmental Conservation Police Arrest Plainville Man for Illegal Trapping
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) State Environmental Conservation Police (EnCon Police) have arrested a Plainville man on numerous charges of illegal trapping in the town of Avon.
EnCon Police received a complaint from a citizen that while walking his dog on a trail along the Farmington River in Avon on January 31, his dog was caught in an illegal snare trap. The dog was not injured.
On February 2, 2010, EnCon Police officers located several more illegal snare and unpadded leghold traps set along the river area. While conducting the investigation the officers observed Stanislaw Koldziej, age 57, of Plainville, Connecticut approach them carrying additional illegal snare traps and other trapping equipment.
EnCon Police officers seized a quantity of traps and trapping equipment and arrested Koldziej on charges alleging 5 counts of Illegal trapping (for using the snare traps); 7 counts of Illegal coyote trapping (out of season); 2 counts of Illegal trapping (using unpadded leg hold traps) and 7 counts of Failure to tag traps with the name of the owner. Koldziej was released on a written promise to appear in court on February 16, 2010 in Hartford.
This arrest is unrelated to the arrest made earlier in the week for alleged illegal trapping in Winchester.
#1180638 - 02/05/1010:15 AM
Re: Press Release - EnCon Police arrest another illegal trapper
[Re: orviskid]
RV6
Member
Registered: 10/07/05
Posts: 1035
Loc: Mystic & Beyond
Wow.. are people kRaZy or what!?
Go through all that trouble to trap animals for a few measley dollars? And cant even do it by the rules.
Let's see here? Put this act in perspective..
Freeze ur a$$ off spending HOURS in a frozen swamp playing "grizzly Adams",, drag a bloody bundle of stinking carcasses back to your house,, spend countless HOURS scraping, salting, and stretching bug laiden hides, filled with diseases they aint got names for yet, for? a few $$?
AND (forgot about this little bonus benefit).. The PETA people will hound this man RELENTLESSLY for the rest of his days, in court and OUT.
or..
Get a peddle bike with Pee-Wee herman basket, and pickup returnable cans and bottles along Main St?
Kudos to the Enconn for nabbing these madmen. But, they shouldn't be sent to jail, they should be sent to, and committed at CVH!
#1180646 - 02/05/1010:34 AM
Re: Press Release - EnCon Police arrest another illegal trapper
[Re: RV6]
Tmack9200
Member
Registered: 03/29/06
Posts: 11605
Loc: City of Champions...
Whats the biggest fine that he can recieve if convicted and how do your CT Judges handle these cases, is it a typical plea down and a slap on the hand, or do the courts really try to throw the book at people like this?
#1180654 - 02/05/1011:21 AM
Re: Press Release - EnCon Police arrest another illegal trapper
[Re: Tmack9200]
OHMYGOD
Member
Registered: 06/23/04
Posts: 20754
Loc: Suffield Ct
Nice Job EnCon Great job in finding all the traps this scum planted!!!
I'm also Very happy to hear that the dog was not injured. I don't know what I'd do to someone if my dogs leg was caught in a illegal trap!!!! I do keep an aluminum baseball bat in my Truck...............
WAVEWALK DEMO AGENT: Send me a message if you want to try the W500,W700 and soon the S4.
You can take what you want from life......As long as you give a little Back. "We never get over the fishing fever, it's a delightful disease and thank the lord there is no cure". "CTF, is a lure I can not afford to NOT have in my pocket"
Don’t argue with Idiots.. They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Our freedoms are being choked, big brother's grip is getting tighter.
#1180658 - 02/05/1011:35 AM
Re: Press Release - EnCon Police arrest another illegal trapper
[Re: OHMYGOD]
MikeG
Member
Registered: 01/20/02
Posts: 13088
Loc: NW CT
I will play devils advocate even though I do not condone this type of illegal behavior:
Maybe this guy has no job and is just trying to survive off the land. Since Obama took over returnable cans are as scarce to find as a job .
In tough times people will do whatever it takes to survive,including fishing,trapping and hunting to put food on the table.
and most likely this guy will get a slap on the wrist,his charges will either be nollied all together or they will release him on a conditional discharge ,meaning if he does not get in anymore trouble within a certain amount of time his charges would be wiped from his record.
EnCon Police Moderator
Registered: 03/01/04
Posts: 3899
Originally Posted By: Tmack9200
Whats the biggest fine that he can receive if convicted and how do your CT Judges handle these cases, is it a typical plea down and a slap on the hand, or do the courts really try to throw the book at people like this?
Up to $200 per count and up to 60 days in jail per count. That's maximum. This arrest is going to court in Hartford where they may or may not understand the implications of illegal trapping. Last week's arrest is going to court in Bantam where court personnel are very experienced and have a lot of knowledge dealing with hunting, fishing and trapping violations.
I don't try to predict what the court is going to do with any case....I would always be wrong.
I can't make promises, but the more public interest shown in a case, the more likely the charges won't be dropped outright. These illegal trappers MAY be generating input from the ANTIs, but it would be very nice to see a few sportsmen's organizations send letters to the prosecutor's office where the case will be handled to demand more than a slap on the wrist. It's also a good opportunity to point out again that these two cases involve ILLEGAL behavior. Calling these guys "trappers" is really a misnomer because it implies to some degree that their activity is legitimate trapping. That would be like calling the DC Sniper a target shooter - correct to a certain extent but entirely misleading. Depending on their criminal records, both these cases may wind up in some sort of diversionary program but that doesn't mean it's not worth the effort.
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