Pennsylvania Game News - August 2010 - 29

they lifted off of the water. The witnesses described the pontoon boat in detail as to color, make and model, and what the suspects were wearing. Some of the goose hunters were wearing blaze orange hunting attire. I called LMO Jerry Bish to assist me and asked him to head toward Conneaut Lake. Jerry was working the goose blinds in the Controlled Shooting Area at the time and said he was on his way. I asked him if he could go to the east side of the lake and I would head to the west side. My radio began buzzing, as dispatcher Worley reported six more residents on the lake called about these same individuals shooting at geese in safety zones. In a subsequent radio message, Worley stated that the Conneaut Lake Regional Police were on scene and directed me to the southwest end of the lake to meet the police. Turning down Pymatuning Drive, I spotted the police cruiser traveling toward me and stopped to meet him. Officer Michael Broderick advised me that he had watched the same group of hunters in the pontoon boat shoot at the geese in another safety zone on the lake, and he motioned them off the lake. When the group saw him, they just spun around and took off for the other side of the lake, in the direction of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission dock off of Route 618 at the north end of the lake. I radioed Jerry to go to the dock, as he was closer. Upon arriving at the dock on the west side we spotted the suspects in the pontoon boat, blaze orange hunting attire and all, traveling south on the east side of the lake. Jerry said he would head over to the east side with Officer Broderick, while I monitored the progress of the boat with my binoculars and provided its location. I watched the boat pull into Midway Bay and called Jerry on my cell phone to tell him. Within seconds I could see Jerry’s
AUGUST 2010

emergency red lights activated on his vehicle and then Officer Broderick’s emergency lights and siren on his cruiser. The group of hunters in the pontoon boat, who were less than 50 yards from the shoreline, just ignored the officers and slowly pulled back out into the lake and headed for the southwest corner. Watching the pontoon boat and its occupants leave Midway Bay, I couldn’t help but wonder what they were doing. They reminded me of those police car chases on TV, where the driver thinks leading the police on a chase is funny. Conneaut Lake is only three quarters of a mile long, a half mile wide and we had them in sight the entire time. For them to think they were going to escape was ludicrous. Jerry called my cell phone and told me that the pontoon boat was heading toward Feather Canal at the southwest end of the lake, and that Officer Broderick was en route to that location. I pulled out of the parking lot to meet Officer Broderick. Turning onto Pymatuning Road I saw the police cruiser in my rearview mirror and pulled over to let him go by, as I wasn’t sure of the exact location of Feather Canal. At the next intersection Officer Broderick took a left and I followed. We’d gone about 200 yards when Feather Canal came into view on my right, and I didn’t see any moving boats. However, moored at one of the private docks was the pontoon boat with the same registration number we’d been trying to get stopped in this ongoing wild goose chase. I was astounded at how fast these individuals were able to moor the large boat, which was at least 25 feet long. Officer Broderick verified the
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Pennsylvania Game News - August 2010

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