Police Charge Illegal Bear and Turkey Hunters, Striped Bass Poachers, Impaired Boater

David Stephen Wall was charged with hunting black bear out of season

Maryland Natural Resources Police officers charged illegal bear and turkey hunters, striped bass poachers and a drunken boater in recent cases. 

A Garrett County man was charged Tuesday with hunting black bear out of season after he shot a sow with yearlings and left it for dead.

David Stephen Wall, 53, of Oakland, had been warned earlier by the Black Bear Response Team to take down bird feeders in his backyard after bears began showing up.

On Monday night, Wall shot at a female bear with a .22-caliber rifle in what he said was an attempt to scare it. Instead, the bullet struck the bear, paralyzing it.

The next morning, Wall called the response team after he found the bear was still alive, surrounded by its three yearlings. A biologist euthanized the bear and called for officers to investigate.

The officer interviewed Wall, who said he stuck the rifle through a partially opened slider door and fired at the bear on his deck about 15 feet away. The investigation concluded that Wall was not in any danger of an attack, did not have livestock or pets outside in danger, and had not called the department for assistance.

Wall is scheduled to appear in Garrett County District Court on Aug. 4. If found guilty, he could be fined as much as $1,500. Department staff is monitoring the well being of the yearlings.

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An officer on patrol on Deep Creek Lake arrested a Pennsylvania man last Friday night for operating a boat while impaired by alcohol.

Eric Michael Paul, 27, of Leechburg was operating a pontoon boat as part of a bachelor’s party and was having trouble returning to the boat ramp when he was spotted by officers. When they approached the boat, they saw empty beer cans on the deck and a garbage bag full of cans and empty plastic cups.

Paul had bloodshot eyes, a flushed face and smelled of alcohol. He could not pass several field sobriety tests and was taken to the local Maryland State Police barrack for a breathalyzer test. He registered .09, over the legal limit.

He is scheduled to appear in Garrett County District Court on Aug. 3. If found guilty, he could be fined up to $1,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail.

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Two Prince George’s County men were charged last Thursday with poaching 27 striped bass near the Fishing Creek Bridge in Dorchester County.

Jose Roberto Medrano, 24, of Fort Washington, and Jose DeJesus Garcia Pineda, 35, of Oxon Hill, were stopped at 5:20 a.m. by officers on surveillance. Each man was charged with having undersized striped bass, exceeding the daily catch limit, catching in a restricted area and violating time of day regulations.

They are scheduled to appear in Dorchester County District Court on July 20. If found guilty of all charges, each man could be fined as much as $6,000.

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A Garrett County man was charged on Wednesday with illegal turkey hunting after officers determined he exceeded the bag limit during the 2015 spring season and falsified his report to the state.

David William Smearman Jr., 29, of Grantsville, admitted that he killed three turkeys and reported two of them under other names. Smearman was questioned after officers checking records noticed unusual entries to the Big Game Harvest Report.

Smearman is scheduled to appear in Garrett County District Court on June 16 on the charge of exceeding the seasonal bag limit. If found guilty, he could be fined as much as $1,500.