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12-18-2006 | 05:49 PM

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PABuck_HNTR

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From: Erie, Pennsylvania

Another Example of FINES BEING TOO LOW

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?Q=170803&A=11

Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency

2006 Press Releases
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Release #163-06

VENANGO COUNTIAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SHOOTING BEAR IN RESIDENTIAL AREA

FRANKLIN - On Nov. 21, the second day of Pennsylvania's bear season, a call from a concerned citizen sent Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) Clint Deniker to the intersection of 15th Street and Tingley Avenue in the Franklin Heights area of Franklin, Venango County. The caller told a dispatcher at the agency's Northwest Region Office that an individual was shooting at a black bear in a residential area.

WCO Deniker was assisted on scene by Deputy WCO Janet Baker, Land Management Group Supervisor Jim Deniker, and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Waterways Conservation Officers Mark Kerr and Gregg Pochron.

"This is an unfortunate case of an individual disregarding hunting laws and firearms safety in a reckless effort to kill a bear," WCO Deniker stated. "Thankfully, someone got involved and we were able to apprehend the violator."

The defendant, Alphonso Lauricia, 72, of Franklin, while putting gas in his vehicle at a station on 15th Street, spotted the bear in a large oak tree directly across the street from the gas station. Lauricia returned to his residence and retrieved a crossbow and two .308 caliber rifles. Upon returning to the bear's location, he parked his vehicle on a side street and positioned himself to shoot the bear with his crossbow. The oak tree where the bear was located was four feet from a garage and within 20 yards of at least two other residences. The Game and Wildlife Code specifies that hunters must be at least 50 yards away from occupied buildings if using a bow or cross bow or 150 yards if using a firearm before attempting to take wildlife, unless they have advance permission from individuals whose safety zones they encroach.

The defendant shot four times with his crossbow, striking the bear twice. The bear then descended the tree and fled, with Lauricia firing numerous times with his rifle at the bear as it made its way through the residential neighborhood. Game Commission Northwest Region Director Keith Harbaugh apprehended Lauricia when he brought the bear to the Northwest Region Office - just a short distance south of Franklin Heights - to have it processed and tagged by agency officials.

"This individual's only concern was killing that bear, apparently at any cost," WCO Deniker said. "In the process, he violated basic safety regulations and placed the general public in danger."

Lauricia was charged with three counts of violating the Game and Wildlife Code: unlawful taking of big game; violating a safety zone; and trespass on private property while hunting. He was ordered to pay fines and court costs totaling $1,584 by Magisterial Judge Robert Boyer of Franklin.

In addition, Lauricia likely will have his hunting and trapping privileges revoked for an unspecified period.

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat. The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs.

The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget. The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.

Ok you guys who tried to defend the guys in the last post. And those that said there wasn't enough evidence or decription to base your decisions on Try this one. These fines are way too low for these crimes. I know most of you will probably say "He's and old man leave him alone"
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