The suspect, Frederick Clingen, 48, of Muskegon County, was arraigned Monday, June 27, for taking a protected animal, according to Lt. Gerald Thayer of the DNR's law enforcement division. The misdemeanor charge carries penalties of up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
A complaint was called in at 2:20 p.m. on June 11 from Half Moon Lake near Muskegon County's Moore Park, Thayer said.
That caller gave a good description of the suspect and the white and yellow Seadoo he was riding, officers said.
A DNR officer talked to several witnesses who said the suspect was circling the swan and then intentionally struck it with his personal watercraft, killing it.
He later located the PWC at a dock associated with a residence on the lake, Thayer said.
The suspect said that the swan was preventing him from coming into his dock so he "tried to scare it away by circling it" at which time he "accidentally" hit it.
The suspect's father then retrieved the dead swan from the water and placed it behind his residence in the woods, a DNR officer said.
(MLive - July 1 2016)
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