Natural Resources Police Arrest Sex Offender, Charge Illegal Tree-Care Business

A convicted sex offender was arrested and an illegal tree-care business was charged in separate cases handled by the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

An Allegany County man was arrested Friday on a sex offense warrant during an investigation of a deer poaching incident.

Rodney Wayne Bible, 58, of Flintstone, taken to the Allegany County Detention Center and released on $100,000 bond under a Baltimore City Circuit Court warrant issued in 2014.

An officer on patrol at about 9 a.m. received a complaint about possible poaching and trespassing on Iron Mountain near Rice’s Old Orchard. The citizen said he heard a shot in a field and saw a man standing on Mount Fairview Road. He believed the man shot the deer from a vehicle that had dropped him off.

The officer saw a vehicle on Mount Fairview Road matching the description provided by the citizen and stopped it.

Bible, in the passenger seat, had blood on his hands and clothes. A muzzleloader was in the back seat.

He told the officer that a deer was in the trunk.

When asked, Bible acknowledged he did not have his hunting license with him, did not have written permission to hunt in the field and that the deer was not properly tagged. He denied killing the deer from the road.

Bible took the officer to the site of the harvest, which was less than 150 yards from a home.

A routine background check found that Bible was wanted by the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office for violation of probation after conviction on third-degree sex offense and indecent exposure charges. A warrant for his arrest was in effect.

While in custody, Bible was issued  four citations: hunting without written permission; hunting within the safety zone; failing to field tag the deer; and failing to complete the harvest record.  The deer was donated to a needy family.

He is scheduled to appear in Allegany District Court on April 14. If found guilty of all poaching charges, he could be fined as much as $1,400.

Bible also is scheduled to stand trial in on Feb. 1 on November charges of hunting deer at night, hunting out of season, having a loaded firearm in a vehicle and shooting from the roadway.

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A Montgomery County man was issued two citations last month after officers determined he was operating a tree care business without a state license.

Officers arrived at a home on the 2200 block of Rockland Ave. in Rockville, on Dec. 19 and found Brian Beck Lightfoot, 53, of Gaithersburg, performing work on a tree. When asked for his Maryland Licensed Tree Expert number, Lightfoot gave several company names and tree expert numbers.

Officers determined that he was using identifying numbers of companies where he had previously worked without their permission.

Officers charged Lightfoot with operating a tree expert business without license.

The very next day, officers received a complaint at the same address that Lightfoot was still performing tree work.

Lightfoot told an officer that he was working under a different licensed company, but could not provide licensed tree expert number documentation. He received a second citation and was ordered to cease and desist performing tree work at that address.

Lightfoot is schedule to appear in Montgomery District Court on March 8 on both charges. If convicted, he could be fined as much as $1,000.