FARMINGTON — The Maine Warden Service has charged a local police sergeant in the unintentional killing of a cow moose, for which he did not have a permit.
Edward Hastings IV, 30, of Chesterville was issued a summons for a rule violation, a low-level crime punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. In this case, there is no risk of jail time, according to the court complaint.
Hastings and his moose-hunting permit partner shot at a bull moose during the legal season on Oct. 16 in Freeman Township, but when they got to the site where the moose fell, two moose were down — a bull and a cow, Lt. Tim Place of the Maine Warden Service said Thursday.
He said Hastings immediately reported the shooting to the Warden Service, which determined that the shooting of the cow was unintentional.
The violation does not carry a mandatory revocation of a hunting license, Place said.
The bag limit is one moose per permit holder, per year, according to the online Moose Hunting Guidebook. The moose may be shot by either the permittee or a subpermittee.
Hastings’ case was treated the same as those of other violators, Place said. If the shooting had been intentional, it would have meant a mandatory $1,000 fine and three days in jail, he said.
The case was transferred to 11th District Court in Paris due to Hastings being employed by the Farmington Police Department, which works closely with the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office, according to a motion to change venue.
No arraignment date had been set.
Hastings said he called his supervisor, Chief Jack Peck, from the scene to tell him what had happened.
“I would like to apologize for the position that I have created for the Farmington Police Department and the citizens of my community, along with the law enforcement community,” Hastings said in a statement issued to the Sun Journal earlier this week.
In the process of shooting at the moose that he saw standing off an all-terrain trail, he said, “I inadvertently hit the cow moose that was standing with the bull moose.”
The investigation of the shooting showed that his bullet killed the cow moose, Hastings said.
He said it was taken by the Warden Service and donated to a nonprofit organization called Hunters for the Hungry.
Chief Peck said Hastings had his full support and those of the members of the Farmington Police Department.
Hastings was named the department’s 2012 Employee of the Year.
“Sgt. Hastings has always been upfront and honest about this unfortunate incident,” Peck said. “He immediately contacted both the Maine Warden Service and myself on that day. Sgt. Hastings is and will continue to be a valuable asset to both our department and the community.”
dperry@sunjournal.com
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