Three Arrested for 'Deer Jacking' in Calverton National Cemetery

A statewide initiative to crack down on illegal deer poaching during bow and arrow hunting season yielded three local arrests, including two men who had shot a deer with a rifle in Calverton National Cemetery.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation announced on Wednesday that "Operation Dark Night" had yielded 137 arrests statewide for more than 250 offenses over a seven-week period this fall. The focus of the crack-down was "deer jacking" and the the illegal taking of deer by artificial light.

Poachers "shine a spotlight on a deer feeding in fields to 'freeze' the deer long enough to shoot it - killing deer when they are most vulnerable," said a DEC press release released on Wednesday. Hunting is only allowed between sun rise and sundown, and such crimes are misdemeanors. Officers used decoys and waited for bows to be shot at it. It was the DEC's largest coordinated anti-deer jacking initiative in the state's history.

Most of the arrests were made upstate, but in Calverton, Captain Timothy Huss, the chief environmental conservation officer for Long Island, said on Thursday, his officers arrested three for illegally taking deer in Calverton National Cemetary, where it is also illegal to hunt at all.  One arrest was also made in Water Mill.

According to Huss, the more serious offenses involved the use of a rifle last month, an illegal offense in itself. A witness went to the hunting check station in Ridge and told officers he had observed a man shoot a deer from a vehicle in the cemetery just after sunset on Nov. 13. The witness provided a description of the vehicle the shooter had and a partial license plate number.

Officer Matt Krug went to the cemetery, found the car matching the description, and investigated. He found a man inside the car with a passenger unloading a rifle, Huss said. Two more rifles were reportedly found in the car. The deer was not immediately found, though.

Meanwhile, the witness had taken off because he didn't want to get involved further, Huss said. So, Officer Tom Gadomski dressed up like the witness and was brought to the cemetery in a Riverhead Town police unit to make the men think the witness was identifying them as the men who had shot the deer. Huss said they soon admitted to having shot a small button buck on the cemetery grounds and showed DEC officers where it was located.

Kevin D. Unverzagt, 36, of East Setauket, and Jesse Cordaro, who is 42 and lives in Brookhaven Town, were arrested on multiple charges, including trespass, hunting without a license, hunting from a motor vehicle, and possession of a loaded rifle. The case is pending in Riverhead Justice Court. Huss said Unverzagt was on probation and was since jailed on a violation of probation charge.

Also arrested at Calverton National Cemetery was Brian J. Allen, 29, of Sound Beach. A tipster told officers at the Ridge station that, "He overheard two men talking about getting a deer after sundown."

Officer Don Damrath checked out the cemetery. "Sure enough, this guy shows up and they observe this guy dragging this large eight-point buck." He had shot the buck with a bow.

Allen was charged with trespass and illegally taking a deer after-hours. His case is also pending in Riverhead Justice Court.

Though in the Calverton cases, decoys were not used, these cases are still considered deer jackings. "They were made during the period of time of the operation," Huss added. "The initiative just reminded us to focus on this activity and raise the public awareness. We want to let the poachers know, this is not acceptable."

Huss said his officers also made three dozen cases in the region where archery hunters used bait to lure deers, which is illegal in New York.