3 accused of illegal hunting jailed in Sullivan County
12/24/10
PARKSVILLE — Two men from Livingston Manor and another from Florida were arrested Tuesday and charged with using a spotlight to kill deer at a field popular with illegal hunters and with having a loaded rifle in their SUV, Department of Environmental Conservation police said Thursday.
Police charged Ray Salonich, 27, Vernon Finkle, 42, and Shawn Fagan, 34, with taking deer with the aid of artificial light and possessing a loaded firearm within a motor vehicle, misdemeanors, and hunting without a license, a DEC violation.
Salonich and Finkle, both from Livingston Manor, were also charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, misdemeanor, because they are convicted felons and prohibited from carrying a rifle.
The three were arrested after a DEC officer staked out at a hunting field off Tanzman Road saw an SUV approach and flood the field with a spotlight.
The officer chased the SUV and pulled it over. Inside he found Salonich, Finkle and Fagan, of Lehigh Acres, Fla. The officer also found one loaded and one unloaded rifle, and blood in the back, police said.
Police later discovered a freshly killed deer in a barn belonging to one of those arrested. They also learned that Salonich and Finkle have felony convictions.
The men were arraigned in Town of Rockland Court and sent to Sullivan County Jail on $1,000 cash bail on $2,000 security bail.