Ducks shot with paintball gun
Pascagoula, MS (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Oct 4, 2007
County: Jackson
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Robert Ready
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Two Moss Point men were arrested for animal cruelty after allegedly shooting ducks at the Singing River Hospital pond with a paintball gun early Thursday morning.
Robert Daffin, 23, 9151 Ethan Allen Drive, and Robert Ready, 25, 3709 Brohum St., were also charged with having an open container in a vehicle and public drunkenness.
Pascagoula police officer Josh Proctor initially responded to a call at 1:46 a.m. from a clerk at the 1600 Denny Ave. Fast Trac, who said the store had been shot with orange paint, Interim Police Chief Eddie Stewart said.
If convicted, Daffin and Ready could face fines up to $1,000 and six months in jail. Additional charges could be pending from the vandalism at the other two sites, Stewart said.
With no suspects visible at the store, Proctor proceeded west on Denny and saw that a Camaro in the Lowe's parking lot with a for sale sign in it had also been hit with orange paint.
As Proctor continued west and approached the pond, located in front of the hospital at 2809 Denny Ave. -- about three blocks from the Fast Trac -- he had his patrol unit's windows down and "actually heard the shots from the paintball gun," Stewart said.
The store clerk also reported hearing shots fired, said Stewart, adding that a paintball gun is a compressed air weapon.
"It does make a discharging sound. That's what the clerk heard ... and what the officer heard," he said.
Proctor, who was assisted by officer Richard Davis, arrested Daffin and Ready without incident and confiscated the paintball gun while investigating the scene.
"It was obvious what had happened," said Stewart, referring to several ducks being shot with orange paint but none were killed or seriously injured.
No people were injured either, Stewart said.
The pond was built in 1958, the year the hospital opened, and dozens of mallard, white Pekin and other species of ducks call the pond home. The ducks themselves have been an attraction since that time and are viewed and fed by residents and visitors alike.
"We think it's very alarming that someone would seek to besmirch such a great Jackson County tradition as the ducks on our lake are," said Richard Lucas, spokesman for the Singing River Hospital System.
Lucas said the ducks "really are a part of the fabric of our community" and are pleasant sites for residents and patients who frequent the pond or watch the ducks from hospital rooms.
The hospital system is checking to see that no ducks are missing, said Lucas, who praised the police department's efforts.
"We're proud of the ducks and always want to protect them," he said.
During the summer of 2004, about half of the ducks that lived in the pond at I.G. Levy Park North were reported missing. Numerous citizens demanded answers from the recreation and police departments at that time.
Officials determined that wild animals, including alligators, were likely the culprits. Even though they were nesting and migrating at that time, the ducks at the hospital were also closely watched.
Case UpdatesA charge of animal cruelty has been dropped against one of the suspects in Thursday morning's paintball attack on ducks at Singing River Hospital.
Robert Daffin, 23, of Moss Point, was arrested at 1:46 a.m. Thursday in connection with the shooting incident at the hospital's duck pond, said Pascagoula police Capt. Howard Butler. Daffin is still charged with having an open container in a vehicle and public drunkenness, Butler said, and was released from police custody after posting a $600 bond.
Daffin and Robert Ready, 25, of 3709 Brohum St. in Moss Point, were arrested by Pascagoula police officers after the department received reports of someone shooting paintballs at businesses on Denny Avenue. Both men were apprehended at the duck pond without incident.
Ready is charged with animal cruelty and malicious mischief. He was released from custody on $1,100 bond. Both men are scheduled to appear in court Oct. 31. | Source: Gulf Live - Oct 6, 2007
Update posted on Oct 7, 2007 - 12:26AM |
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