Behind the Badge - Well That Escalated
Well That Escalated
District Game Warden Clayton Edstrom
Sometimes a casual reminder of the laws and regulations turns into something you never expected would happen.
Toward the end of July 2024, I received a text message from another Game and Fish employee working out of the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area regarding some individuals that were camping at the Coal Mine campground.
It was said the campsite had been "a mess" for a few days.
After I arrived, I observed the area the individuals were camping in had clothes and equipment in a manner showing they had been there for a while.
When I approached their vehicle, I noticed an individual standing behind the opened passenger door.
I asked the individual how long he had been there.
He stated that him and his girlfriend had been there for a couple of days.
I then notified him that I knew he had been there longer than a couple of days, and he said it had been three or four days.
I then informed him about the WMA regulations and that he was only allowed to stay there for 10 consecutive days.
I then asked if he had his driver's license on him, and he stated that he didn't.
I then asked for his name and date of birth, which he provided.
I informed him that if there was trash left behind, I would contact him.
When I returned to my patrol vehicle, I had a feeling something was odd about the individual and his mannerisms.
I had contacted state radio and asked if they could run the individual to see if he had warrants.
State radio informed me that the individual had a warrant for assault and battery.
I then contacted a Sheridan County deputy and informed him about the situation.
He mentioned he was close to my location and would arrive shortly.
When the Sheridan County deputy arrived at the campground, we proceeded to approach their campsite.
The individual in question was ultimately placed under arrest for his warrant.
The individual said he was unaware that he had a warrant out for is arrest.
This was somewhat believable considering it was from 2015.
At the time, we had three additional officers responding to our location and two of them were K9 units.
Sheriff deputies from McLean, Wells and McHenry counties arrived at relatively the same time.
The Mclean County deputy ran his K9 around the vehicle.
The K9 alerted on both the driver's side and the passenger's side of the vehicle, therefor giving us probable cause to search the vehicle.
While searching the vehicle, trace amounts of methamphetamine were found and tested to confirm.
When the individual was asked about the methamphetamine, he said that everything that we found in the vehicle belonged to him.
The male individual was then transported to Mercer County jail by the Sheridan County deputy and his girlfriend stayed with the vehicle at the campsite.
I was also informed by a civilian that they had been camping there for at least a week.
I informed the girlfriend that she should remove the vehicle and all their belongings by the end of the day on Friday, and she said that she would.
On that Friday, I arrived at Coal Mine campground and observed that the area that they were camped at was cleared out and their belongings were gone.
Being a game warden, encounters like this don’t happen often, but more experienced wardens will inform our new hires that do not have the mindset that all your field checks are routine.