Police Charge Prince George’s County Man for Poaching

Poaching and impaired driving cases highlight recent enforcement actions by Maryland Natural Resources Police.

A Prince George’s County man being investigated for trespassing was charged Thursday with 21 counts of poaching.

Victor Joston Ross Davis, 28, of Bowie, received citations after he told officers that he killed but did not document or report three deer: two button bucks and a seven-point buck.

Officers were called to private property owned by the Fairwood Community Association after residents saw a man dressed in camouflage and carrying a bow walking near a wooded area. When confronted, he ran. A K-9 unit tracked the suspect to a home, where they found a butchered deer carcass in the backyard.

The homeowner allowed officers to search the premises. They found the bow and arrows, camouflage clothing matching a photo taken by one of the community residents and deer meat in a freezer.

Davis was charged with multiple counts: hunting within the safety zone, hunting on private property without written permission, failing to report the kills to the state, failing to complete a Big Game Harvest Record and removing the head or hide of the deer before check-in. He also was charged with single counts of failing to have a hunting license, failing to have a hunter safety certificate and failing to wear fluorescent orange.

A date has not been set in Prince George’s County District Court. If Davis pleads guilty to all charges, he would be fined $8,700. If he contests the charges and is found guilty, he could be fined a maximum of $31,500.

In addition, Prince George’s County Police Department charged Davis with brandishing a weapon when he threatened a nearby homeowner who had questioned his presence on private property.

Davis is set to stand trial March 27 in Anne Arundel County District Court on charges of second-degree assault and misdemeanor theft in connection with a November incident.

A Washington County man was charged with poaching last Tuesday after an officer saw him with a shotgun near a baited area.

Jacob Stephen Dove, 18, of Hagerstown, was in a kayak about 30 yards from an area at water’s edge covered in cracked corn. He told the officer he knew the bait was there.

Dove is scheduled to appear in Washington County District Court March 23 on a charge of hunting with the aid of bait. The violation carries a pre-paid fine of $500 and a maximum fine of $1,500.

An Allegany County man was charged on Christmas Eve with impaired driving and poaching after he drove by an officer filling out a report on a previous drunken driving stop.

Joseph Jacob Turner, 41, of Frostburg, was pulled over after an officer noticed an untagged doe in the bed of his truck. He received citations for killing a deer in a closed season, failing to tag the deer and failing to record the kill on his Big Game Harvest Record.

When the officer noticed the odor of alcohol, he conducted field sobriety tests on Turner, which he failed. A Breathalyzer test at the Maryland State Police Barrack “C” in Cumberland put Turner’s blood alcohol content at 0.05. He was issued citations for impaired driving and was released to a sober driver.

In the earlier stop, Timothy Reginald Kyle, 58, of Barton in Allegany County, was pulled over on Old Route 36 when the officer noticed he was driving very slowly and had difficulty parking.

Kyle failed field sobriety tests and registered a 0.13 blood alcohol content during a Breathalyzer test, well above the 0.08 legal limit. He was issued three citations for drunken driving.