A 60-year-old Falconer man was charged by state Department of Environmental Conservation police Tuesday with 54 misdemeanor charges for “deer jacking” – illegally using artificial lights to stun the animals and then shooting them and leaving them to die on various properties in Chautauqua County, including the grounds of a Jamestown school.
Bruce Giddy faces arraignment Tuesday in Ellicott Town Court and April 23 in Jamestown City Court on a total of 46 Environmental Conservation Law misdemeanor charges and eight state penal law misdemeanor counts linked to the killing of four animals.
Environmental Conservation Department Police Captain Frank Lauricella said the case against Giddy represents “the highest number of violations we’ve had associated with a single deer jacking case within our region” of southern Western New York.
“Thanks to the months-long investigation and dedicated work of our Environmental Conservation Department officers, DEC was able to successfully solve this particularly egregious deer case that involved multiple serious offenses,” he added.
Among the charges for which Giddy faces prosecution are four counts of prohibited used of a weapon, four counts of reckless endangerment, four counts of possession a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, four counts of taking a deer from a public highway, three counts of taking deer out of season, four counts of illegally taking of a deer and four counts of hunting deer with an artificial light.
He also faces prosecution on four counts of discharging a firearm over a road and single counts of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a school property and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a factory.
Lauricella said the case began when the Jamestown Police Department contacted DEC police on Nov. 25 to report that a deer had been shot and left on school property in Jamestown and they had witness reports the gunman shot the deer from his vehicle within a residential area and on the school grounds.
After four months of investigation, DEC police were able to track down the suspect and also link him to numerous similar incidents in which deer had been shot in residential areas and left behind, as well as with a lengthy list of other hunting-related violations.
Giddy faces a jail term of up to one year and fines ranging from $200 to 2,000 on each misdemeanor, the DEC police captain said.
Lauricella said individuals are encouraged to contact the DEC with any reports of suspicious hunting behavior using the 24-hour dispatch hotline at 1-877-457-5680.
email: mgryta@buffnews.com
Bruce Giddy faces arraignment Tuesday in Ellicott Town Court and April 23 in Jamestown City Court on a total of 46 Environmental Conservation Law misdemeanor charges and eight state penal law misdemeanor counts linked to the killing of four animals.
Environmental Conservation Department Police Captain Frank Lauricella said the case against Giddy represents “the highest number of violations we’ve had associated with a single deer jacking case within our region” of southern Western New York.
“Thanks to the months-long investigation and dedicated work of our Environmental Conservation Department officers, DEC was able to successfully solve this particularly egregious deer case that involved multiple serious offenses,” he added.
Among the charges for which Giddy faces prosecution are four counts of prohibited used of a weapon, four counts of reckless endangerment, four counts of possession a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, four counts of taking a deer from a public highway, three counts of taking deer out of season, four counts of illegally taking of a deer and four counts of hunting deer with an artificial light.
He also faces prosecution on four counts of discharging a firearm over a road and single counts of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a school property and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a factory.
Lauricella said the case began when the Jamestown Police Department contacted DEC police on Nov. 25 to report that a deer had been shot and left on school property in Jamestown and they had witness reports the gunman shot the deer from his vehicle within a residential area and on the school grounds.
After four months of investigation, DEC police were able to track down the suspect and also link him to numerous similar incidents in which deer had been shot in residential areas and left behind, as well as with a lengthy list of other hunting-related violations.
Giddy faces a jail term of up to one year and fines ranging from $200 to 2,000 on each misdemeanor, the DEC police captain said.
Lauricella said individuals are encouraged to contact the DEC with any reports of suspicious hunting behavior using the 24-hour dispatch hotline at 1-877-457-5680.
email: mgryta@buffnews.com