Michigan: After running over and killing a swan with his jet ski, Frederick Clingen, 48, threw his body into the woods

MICHIGAN -- A man accused of killing a mute swan with a personal watercraft has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

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)

Earlier:

• Michigan: Swan run over and killed by jet ski on Half Moon Lake

Michigan: Swan run over and killed by jet ski on Half Moon Lake

MICHIGAN -- A Muskegon County man is facing punishment by the DNR after they say he killed a mute swan on Half Moon Lake near Casnovia.

Conservation officers suspect it may have been deliberate and have submitted evidence to the county prosecutor. The swan was the male in a mating pair that hatches a family on the lake every spring.

Most agree the death was sad, especially since swans mate for life.  But there is disagreement on whether it was an unavoidable accident.

“The jet ski driver was coming in to park and let his granddaughter off and the swan came right at him and he didn't have a chance to turn away,” explains Fred Clingen, who says he saw what happened. “It hit the front of the jet ski and went under.”

Frederick Clingen is the one who is charged with killing the swan.

“I’ve seen jet skis do circles around him, I’ve seen people throw rocks at him,” says Half Moon Lake resident Iesa Carlson. “We have been here about 19 years and he has been here that long, too.

"It’s sad he’s not here anymore, that somebody…that this happened to him.”

Last year someone shot the same swan killed by the jet ski with an arrow.

People around the lake helped nurse him back to health. But, they say there was no chance he could recover after going under the jet ski.

(WZZM13 - June 30, 2016)