A man from Florida got arrested and was charged with taking more than 100 eggs of a loggerhead sea turtle. The man did this criminal act as the turtle was laying the eggs on a Florida beach. This was announced by the state wildlife and conservation commission.
The criminal - Glenn Shaw, 49, of Tequesta, got arrested at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday. The officers noticed him collecting eggs from Jupiter Island. Jupiter Island is located on the Florida's Atlantic Ocean coast, approximately 100 miles away from of Miami in a northern direction.
The man will be accused of taking over 100 eggs from a loggerhead sea turtle during their laying.
When he got arrested, the man had 107 eggs. 15 of them were kept as evidence and will be DNA tested.The other eggs – 92 were re-buried in the sand. Hopefully, they will hatch later this year.
The man is charged with a third-degree felony. He got arrested because of his
violationof the marine turtle protection act. His crime of taking the sea turtle eggs could be punished with up to five years effective sentence and paying a fine of $5,000.
The man got
arrestedafter the commission actually received a signal from biologists about this possible suspect who is stealing eggs from the Jupiter Island beach. This lead to the increasing of the patrols.Then, the investigators saw him with night vision goggles while he was taking the eggs. When the officers stopped the man, he tried to hide the eggs and bury them back in the sand.
As a species, the loggerhead turtles originate from the northwest and the southAtlantic Ocean. They are threatened according to the Endangered Species Act. This means that the species could
possiblybecome endangered and measures should be taken to prevent this. Actually, in other parts of the world, this species is
consideredto be endangered. This makes the conservation measures of this species all over the world really important. Such
taking of legs is not a rare criminal act and should be prevented by the officers.
The suspect - Glenn Tobert Shaw, of
Tequesta got arrested on Friday after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWC) spotted him and later stopped him with a bag full of turtle eggs. The man was caught just behind a home on the Florida’s Jupiter Island.
After arresting the man, FFWC officers continue to actively monitor the area for illegal activity. The officers are determined to stops such acts which endanger the population of this species.
The official FFWC Facebook page states that Shaw collected 107 eggs which were found in his bag. 15 of them will be used as an evidence for his criminal act.
The motive for this crime which endangers the population of the loggerhead sea turtle in Florida is still unknown. Glenn Shaw was held in the Palm Beach County Jail on a bond of $3,000.