Three
armed men were cited for trespass and unlawful hunting Dec. 17 after they
invaded the San Lucas Ranch on all terrain vehicles — an occurrence that’s all
too familiar to many valley landowners.
“We
have trespassers coming up the river hunting quite a bit, and it’s hard to
catch them because if the game warden or Sheriff doesn’t get there soon enough,
they’re not going to stop for us,” said Cody Gonzales, assistant manager of San
Lucas Ranch, which is owned by Nancy Crawford-Hall, publisher of the Valley
Journal.
Gonzales
recalled the incident: “It was approximately 4 p.m. and we were loading hay
when we got a call from the manager across the river and he said he ‘saw quads
coming up river onto the San Lucas Ranch and shooting ducks.’
“So
Jim McKibbon and I drove back to the ranch as quick
as possible and went down the river.”
After
calling the Solvang Sheriff’s Station and contacting a Fish and Game warden,
Gonzales and McKibbon waited three and a half hours
to catch the trespassers.
“When
they came back to their vehicles, there were three of them,” he said. “We
stopped them and they were cooperative — and they were cited. It was raining
and everyone was soaking wet. It was after dark by the time we actually caught
them.”
The
three men, Raul Leandro Armenta of Santa Ynez, Travis
Daniel Simmons of Solvang and Andres David Rodriquez of Lompoc, were cited for
hunter trespass and unlawfully hunting waterfowl after shooting hours.
Fish
and Game is still preparing a report about the incident, which it will present
to the District Attorney, said Public Information Officer for Fish and Game,
Harry Morse.
In
the meantime, Gonzales is satisfied that he finally caught the three men.
“It’s
actually nice when we do catch the trespassers who are hunting; at least one of
the guys we have seen before and he just blows by us,” he said.
“So
it’s nice when it works out this way, where we’re able to catch the
trespassers.”