Natural Resources Police Blotter

A Mount Airy man was charged last Friday morning with illegal hunting by the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Martin Luther Tressler, 55, received citations for having a loaded weapon in a vehicle and hunting without a license.

An officer on patrol in Mount Airy near Kimmel Road noticed a red SUV traveling along a field hedgerow. The officer watched as the vehicle parked and then approached. He noticed a rifle sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle with the rifle barrel pointed to the floor and the stock leaning against the passenger seat.

When questioned, Tressler admitted the gun was loaded and he was getting ready to go into the hedgerow to hunt. Tressler, who did not have any florescent orange safety clothing, said he was hunting on his own land.

However, the officer checked property maps and determined that Tressler was not the landowner. Tressler also had neither a hunting license nor a department ID number for the reporting of any deer harvested.

Tressler is scheduled to appear in Frederick District Court on Feb. 9. If found guilty of both charges, he could be fined as much as $3,000.