Pennsylvania Game News - December 2009 - 27

at a time, with him leading, me next, then Doug following. I was yelling, “state officer, stop,” but it seemed to make Hank go faster. When we got to the bottom of the steps Hank fell, and I congratulated myself, as I knew I was going to catch him. I jumped from the bottom steps and hit the parking lot and I fell flat on my face right behind Hank. Hank and I both jumped to our feet and the chase was on again. We ran across the stockyard parking lot, past a car wash and through a brushy piece of woods. Hank cleared a set of guardrails with one leap and I tried to match him but landed on top, which hurt my pride, but later I blamed it on carrying all my gear — yeah, right. Over the guardrail I went, still running as fast as I could, and I started to gain on Hank as he stumbled into an old board pile right in the middle of a briar patch. I had a mental image of a textbook tackle that would make any Pittsburgh Steeler proud, but I stumbled when I hit the briar patch. It wasn’t exactly the great goal line stopping tackle I had envisioned, and even though I was stumbling, I still managed to grab Hank, and right in the middle of all those briars, boards and rusty nails we both hit the ground. Rumor was that Hank liked carrying a concealed sawed-off shotgun, so I grabbed both his arms and pinned them behind his back while I gasped for breath and waited for help. Deputies quickly arrived on the scene and we handcuffed Hank and searched him for weapons; none were found. I said a few choice words under my breath when I looked at my ripped uniform, because of the paperwork it would take to replace them. We took Hank to jail because of an arrest warrant, and I got “emergency” care from deputy-turned-nurse Gillispie, for scrapes and nail punctures, and as I went to the hospital to get a tetanus shot, I could not help but think about even more paperwork. Hammering Hank was charged with the possession of an illegal deer (the antlers in the car), and attempting to take the buck with a spotlight from the previous year. Charges were added for fleeing with his car, spotlighting with a rifle, spotlighting after legal hours and resisting or interfering with an officer. Hank pled guilty, spent Christmas in jail, and received a fine. I have to smile at the irony of writing this story, while at the same time I’m taking steps to get Hammering Hank his rifle back. Nothing in the law says that the Game Commission can confiscate this rifle that has been used in so many poaching incidents. Even though Hank is a felon and cannot possess a firearm, he has family members who claimed the rifle, so I’m sure that this violation circle will just get bigger. Over the past 10 years, Hammering Hank has been prosecuted for 10 deer that have been unlawfully killed — and that’s just the ones we know about. He is currently on indefinite hunting license revocation. After all of my cases with Hank have wrapped up, he always tells me that he is done with shooting deer and that he has changed his lifestyle, but sooner or later I feel he’ll fall off his legal ladder. There are many types of poachers that WCOs deal with; some learn their lessons and some don’t. I’m sure that in the near future on some cold night I will look up at the stars and think, oh no, not again. DECEMBER 2009

Pennsylvania Game News - December 2009

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