From Staff Reports
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The following items are compiled from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.

Bird on a Wire

A Shelby County game warden received a call about a red-tailed hawk being shot off a power line. When he arrived he found the hawk, and interviewed the witness.

The witness said that he saw a vehicle come to a stop, heard a shot, and saw the hawk fall as the vehicle sped away. A few miles down the road, the vehicle matching the description was found parked at a residence. The rifle was found still in the vehicle.
Staying Afloat

Two girls learned the importance of life jackets at Falcon State Park. A Starr County game warden got a call from a woman who said her daughter and a friend had drifted out from shore on Falcon Lake in kayaks.
She said the wind was blowing them toward the middle of the lake and the girls couldn’t paddle against the wind and waves. Almost immediately after hanging up, the mother called back and said one of the girls had flipped out of the kayak and could barely be seen.
The warden asked a state park officer to assist in a rescue and as they launched their boat, the wind was blowing hard and the waves were white capping on the lake. A red life jacket was was seen floating between the waves, and as the park officers reached the floating girl, she could barely speak from exhaustion. The girl later said she almost gave up hope of being rescued.

The officers then went to the other girl who was still in her kayak and got her safely in the boat as well.
Ill-Fated Four

An Atascosa County radio dispatcher said that there were reports of multiple gunshots at a residence in Charlotte. A game warden and a county deputy were the first to respond and found a person dead in the front yard from apparent gunshot wounds. The two men cleared the house and tended to the homeowner, who had multiple gunshot wounds, also.

The homeowner was flown by Airlife to San Antonio and the warden stayed behind. Shortly after daybreak four people allegedly involved in the shootout were in custody.
Three Amigos

Suspicious wardens spotted vehicle driving on the shoulder of a highway in Potter County. They pulled the vehicle over and discovered open containers of alcohol and the waft of marijuana.

Two of the three occupants were minors and the third, who was on parole, tried to give a false date of birth. He was arrested for giving false information to a peace officer under lawful detention, and was later transported to the Potter County Jail. His companions received citations.
Citations and then some

A simple fishing license citation spiraled into a third-degree felony when a Travis County warden found a man fishing without a license on Lake Pflugerville.

When the man handed over his driver’s license, the warden noted that he was a registered sex offender. After probing the records, wardens discovered that the subject had not reported where he lived. The wardens obtained a warrant for arrest with a third-degree felony for failing to register.
The (Attempted) Exodus

A warden was on duty at Lady Bird Lake met two men who appeared poised to inject suspected narcotics into their arms.

The first man fled over and under fences, but left behind his backpack with color copies of his ID, Social Security card and a monthly calendar of all his appointments.  The warden obtained a felony warrant for evasion, and the following day other officers found the suspect on Interstate 35 near Waco in a stolen car.

Records revealed this wasn’t his first run in with law enforcement and he was returned to Travis County to face the evasion and auto theft charges.
The other two shots

Game wardens in Harris County recently responded to a report of the three gunshots, and after arriving on scene they found two men who had permission to hunt hogs and coyotes, but who had killed a buck instead.

The wardens then reportedly found a scabbard with the knife missing, along with two hunting rifles and a pistol. The men were taken to the Waller County Jail to face misdemeanor charges.

Later, one of the wardens went back to gather GPS and photo evidence and found a knife that matched the scabbard found earlier, as well as two more deer carcasses. After gathering the evidence, wardens added a felony charge of taking game without landowner’s permission.
Femme non-fatale

A game warden in Atascosa County recently responded to a radio alert for a car involved in an assault with bodily injury incident.

Moments later the warden spotted the vehicle coming his way, and he stopped the woman driving it. More officers arrived for backup and an officer arrested her for assaulting a man in Jourdanton and for two stalking warrants.
Two are better than one

A man and his friend were boating in Copano Bay when their motor stalled. The two used an anchor and line to pull themselves to shore, but when the line broke, one of them dove into the water to grab it.

His friend threw a life jacket to him, but the boat drifted away and the man was left hanging onto the jacket until Aransas County game wardens arrived to pull him to safety.