MI: Hunter pleads guilty

May 20, 2010

Deer's unique antlers sought by Troy police

The 20-plus-point whitetail buck, with a distinctively crooked antler, was a frequent visitor of the Lloyd A. Stage Nature Center in Troy.

Today, Troy police say they're trying to recover the deer's antlers to put them on display at the nature center after the buck was killed in December.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources -- which also investigated the incident -- Andrew Martin Polasek, 42, admitted that he took the deer after he saw wounded on the side of the road, first saying it was trying to get away, but couldn't move its hind legs and later saying the buck was barely alive.

Police said Polasek -- who Troy police said is a resident of Bloomfield Hills and who the DNR said lives in Bloomfield Township -- pleaded guilty last week to one count of possession of game animal unlawfully taken. According to police, he was ordered to pay $500 in court fines and $1,000 in restitution to the state and his hunting privileges were suspended for three years.

Investigators were led to Polasek one day in late December, when the deer's photo turned up on hunting Web site The Michigan Sportsman. Someone recognized the deer and called the Troy Police Department, police said.

The user who posted the photo alleged the deer had been shot in the "thumb" area of Michigan, according to Troy police and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

When contacted, Polasek told DNR investigators that after he saw the deer on the side of the road, he went home, changed his clothes, walked back to the deer and dragged it about a mile back to his residence, where he stabbed it through the rib cage with a stake. He then attached his hunting license to one of its antlers and went to show it off to friends, according to the DNR.

Polasek admitted that he'd been telling friends he'd killed the deer while bow hunting.

According to the DNR, Polasek said the deer's head and antlers were in the freezer at his workplace in Detroit -- a meat distributor. Later, according to the DNR, Polasek claimed that the head and antlers had been stolen.

Troy police are hoping to recover the antlers to put them on display at the nature center. Anyone with information is asked to call the Troy Police Department at 248-524-3477.

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