PORTER – A Youngstown man has been arrested for shooting and butchering a wild turkey that he claims had been bothering a motorist on Creek Lane.
Two witnesses, however, told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that the bird was ”not a threat” and was merely looking at its reflection in the car’s finish when it was shot.
The incident occurred shortly after noon Thursday, deputies said, when Ryan D. Jackson came upon a car stopped in the roadway, occupied by a woman he knows. He said the turkey was bothering the woman, and that he went to his nearby home, retrieved his 20-gauge shotgun, took a couple photographs of the bird and then shot it where it stood in the roadway, saying he did so for the safety of the motorist.
Two witnesses from a nearby business, however, told deputies that the bird had been in the area for part of the morning and was not bothering anyone, and that several people had taken photographs of the turkey. They reported in written statements to investigators that Jackson shot it even while customers entered and exited the nearby business.
Jackson, 36, led police to the remains of the bird in a nearby wooded area. Deputies said it had been partially butchered, and Jackson reported at the time that he was cooking part of the bird. Deputies said they found that part of the bird in Jackson’s oven, and more packaged in plastic in his refrigerator.
Following an investigation by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Jackson, of Lockport Street, was charged with hunting small game out of season, possession of a turkey without a permit tag, illegal discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a business or dwelling, and discharge of a firearm across a roadway.
Two witnesses, however, told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies that the bird was ”not a threat” and was merely looking at its reflection in the car’s finish when it was shot.
The incident occurred shortly after noon Thursday, deputies said, when Ryan D. Jackson came upon a car stopped in the roadway, occupied by a woman he knows. He said the turkey was bothering the woman, and that he went to his nearby home, retrieved his 20-gauge shotgun, took a couple photographs of the bird and then shot it where it stood in the roadway, saying he did so for the safety of the motorist.
Two witnesses from a nearby business, however, told deputies that the bird had been in the area for part of the morning and was not bothering anyone, and that several people had taken photographs of the turkey. They reported in written statements to investigators that Jackson shot it even while customers entered and exited the nearby business.
Jackson, 36, led police to the remains of the bird in a nearby wooded area. Deputies said it had been partially butchered, and Jackson reported at the time that he was cooking part of the bird. Deputies said they found that part of the bird in Jackson’s oven, and more packaged in plastic in his refrigerator.
Following an investigation by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Jackson, of Lockport Street, was charged with hunting small game out of season, possession of a turkey without a permit tag, illegal discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a business or dwelling, and discharge of a firearm across a roadway.