BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Lander County District Attorney Angie Elquist has filed eight charges against Wesley Glenn Dick, who allegedly poached three antelope west of Austin in the Smith Creek Valley in Lander County on June 7, 2012.
An arraignment is scheduled for July 15 and a preliminary hearing will be held July 29 at 1 p.m. in the Austin Justice Court before Austin Justice of the Peace Bill Schaeffer. There are three felony or gross misdemeanor charges and five misdemeanor charges.
A Sixth Judicial District Court judge will decide whether the three charges will be considered felonies or gross misdemeanors if the case is bound over to district court after the preliminary hearing.
The three felonies or gross misdemeanor charges are all for unlawful killing or possession of pronghorn antelope. In the criminal complaint, each charge alleges that Dick intentionally killed a pronghorn antelope without a valid hunting tag in Smith Creek Valley on June 7, 2012.
The five misdemeanor charges consist of three charges of unlawful possession of wildlife without an attached tag, one charge of license or permit required for hunting or fishing and one charge of possession of wildlife after the end of open season.
The misdemeanor criminal complaint alleges that Dick hunted for pronghorn antelope without having procured a hunting license, possessed three pronghorn antelope without an attached tag and had in his possession dead pronghorn antelope during a time he was prohibited to possess them, as it was closed season. Dick, of Fallon, was arrested around 10:30 p.m. on June 7, 2012.
According to Edwin Lingar, public information officer for the Division of Law Enforcement of the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), the alleged poaching occurred in the early evening of June 7, 2012. Lander County sheriff's deputies detained Dick before Buck Tingle, a game warden for NDOW stationed in Battle Mountain, made the actual arrest.
The deputies helped with the transport to the Lander County Jail where Dick was taken after the arrest, said Lingar. Dick was released on his own recognizance on June 11, 2012.
Dick was arrested on suspicion of three counts of unlawful killing/attempt to kill big game, three counts of unlawful possession of big game without a valid tag, three counts of possession of wildlife after the end of open season and three counts of hunting big game off of the reservation.
He was also arrested for taking twice the limit or more of big game, three counts of unlawful possession of wildlife without a valid tag, hunting/fishing/trapping without a license, three counts of hunting out of season and driving with a suspended driver's license.
Lingar said last year that this is a felony poaching case where three antelope were poached.
"We take these cases very, very seriously," Lingar said in August of 2012. "This is a very clear case. We caught him with the animals."
Lingar said shooting big game without a tag and out of season is a felony. He said the season starts in the fall. Lingar added that Dick had no hunting tags and was using a small-caliber rifle.
Anyone with information on suspected poaching is urged to call the Operation Game Thief Hotline at (800) 992-3030.
A tip to this hotline number led to Dick's arrest, said Lingar.[[In-content Ad]]
