Posted on Mon, Jan. 31, 2005
By Bill Estep
SOUTH-CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
MOUNT VERNON -- Combining work and deer hunting has cost the road
supervisor in Rockcastle County $1,805, a pistol and a 30-day job suspension.
Denton Cromer, 47, pleaded guilty Monday to illegally killing two
deer in November, improperly firing a gun from a road and failing to
tag and check a deer, court records said.
District Judge David A. Tapp fined him $275.50 plus $1,530 in restitution
to the state. The restitution figure is the cost of replacing two deer,
said county Attorney Bill Reynolds.
Cromer also agreed to forfeit the .357-caliber Smith & Wesson
pistol he carried in his county truck and used to shoot at
deer, according to court records.
A criminal complaint filed by Officer Steve Isaacs of the Kentucky
Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources said Cromer was
in a county truck last Nov. 18 when he stopped and shot at a whitetail
buck. He
and another employee looked for the deer to see if Cromer
had hit it, but apparently didn ’t find it.
Later the same day, however, Cromer killed a doe, loaded it into
his county truck and took it to someone else with instructions to
tag it
and check the dead animal in the other person’s name, according
to the complaint.
When hunters kill deer, they have to call a fish and wildlife department
toll-free number to report the death. They are given a confirmation
number to write down on back of their hunting license, where they also
must record the details of the kill, including the date and county.
The information is considered proof the kill was legal. Hunters are
allowed to kill only one buck a year, but some counties have no restrictions
on the number of does that can can be killed.
Cromer also acknowledged shooting a second deer; failing to tag or
check the first deer made both kills illegal, Isaacs said in the citation
charging Cromer in early January.
Rockcastle County Judge-Executive Buzz Carloftis said Cromer had
been county road supervisor for nearly 11 years when he was charged.
The
fiscal court voted Jan. 11 to suspend Cromer without pay
for 30 days; when he returns, he won ’t be the supervisor, Carloftis
said.
“He should have known that this was not proper for the road supervisor
to do that, ” Carloftis said. “All
I can say is he must love to hunt.”
