BAD AXE — Two Grosse Pointe Park men were recently convicted of angler harassment in Huron County District Court, following an incident on the Willow River in May 2010.
It took a jury of three men and three women 15 to 20 minutes to convict Charles A. Parcells III, 62, and his brother, David H. Parcells, 47, of the charge, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days imprisonment and/or fines and costs up to $500, along with possible licensing sanctions.
Sentencing for the Parcells will be at 3 p.m. March 21 in district court.
According to an incident report from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE), as prepared by Conservation Officer Robert Hobkirk, he received a complaint regarding two men who had been harassed while fishing on the Willow River in Huron City, from Pioneer Road downstream toward the mouth of the river. He made contact with one of the victims and requested that he and his fishing partner write statements describing the incident. The victims, 52-year-old Thomas Smith and 63-year-old Joseph Mondro, were from Trenton and Northville, respectively.
In their statements, Smith and Mondro said they were followed by two men on motorcycles, periodically revving their engines. The men also would stare at Smith and Mondro for long periods of time or would photograph them. At one point, one of the suspects began to throw rocks into the river and from one side of the river to the other.
“Both fishermen felt threatened and harassed,” the report stated. “Not wanting the incident to escalate further, the fishermen left and reported the incident to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Report All Poaching Hotline.”
In his report, Hobkirk said he and fellow Conservation Officer Scott Brown receive a number of similar complaints every year during the bass catch and release season involving the Willow River and the same two individuals.
“Normally, the harassed fishermen cannot positively identify the suspect,” Hobkirk’s report stated. “After speaking with Thomas Smith, he is positive that he can identify one of the suspects and possibly the other suspect.”
Hobkirk, in his report, explained the Willow River flows through the Parcells property. The property is not controlled by any one person and is set up as a corporation. Each immediate family member is on the board and has one vote in the corporation.
“The suspects in this and every harassment complaint at the Willow River are Charles and David Parcells,” Hobkirk’s report stated. “They are brothers and are voting members in the corporation.”
Due to the number of complaints he received in the spring, Hobkirk had two conservation officers fish in the Willow River dressed as fishermen.
“They were followed and stared at by the same two suspects, but no harassment occurred,” Hobkirk stated. “One of the conservation officers … commented that if he was not in law enforcement, he would have felt threatened by the activity of the two men following him.”
Hobkirk told Smith he would write a report and request charges against the suspects for angler harrassment.
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