Crime & Safety
Long Island Man Faces Charges After Blasting An Osprey From Tree: DEC
A resident alerted officials to the shooting; the bird had already been buried by the time they arrived, officials say.
PORT JEFFERSON, NY — A Port Jefferson man is facing criminal charges after authorities say he used a shotgun to shoot an osprey as the bird sat eating a bunker fish in a tree in a residential neighborhood, state Department of Environmental Conservation officials said.
A resident alerted environmental conservation officers after hearing gunshots and then seeing a large bird fall out of a tree in Port Jefferson on Aug. 3. After a brief investigation, an officer and Suffolk police "identified and interviewed" Pedro Joaquin, 83, who claimed he neither heard shots fired nor saw large birds in the area," DEC officials said.
While canvassing the location, an officer saw fresh fish lying on the ground, even though Joaquin's home was not near water, DEC officials said, adding that there was also an area with "freshly dug dirt and a shovel."
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With Joaquin's permission, the officer dug a little further and found a dead osprey "with visible gunshot wounds," and the subject then admitted to shooting the osprey out of a tree with a 12-gauge shotgun," according to officials.
Ospreys are listed as a "species of special concern" and have protection under state and federal law, DEC officials said.
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Joaquin is facing criminal charges for the illegal take of protected wildlife, discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, and the unjustified killing of an animal. He is scheduled to answer those charges in Suffolk County First District Court at a later date.
The first charge of illegal take of protected wildlife carries the potential of a $250 fine, DEC officials said, adding that the discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling is a misdemeanor with a fine potential of $200 to $1,000.
It was not immediately clear what the punishment is for the charge of unjustified killing of an animal. Patch has reached out to U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials.
Joaquin is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 14, according to online court records.
Joaquin was not reachable for comment.
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