Game Commission seeking help to locate turkey poacher in O'Hara's RIDC Park

A man shooting a crossbow at a flock of turkeys in O’Hara’s RIDC Park could have caused catastrophic results, Game Commission authorities said Friday.

“This is a highly populated area, and the fact that someone would do this is shocking,” said Northern Allegheny County Game Warden Madison Kyle.

She said the commission is seeking the public’s help to locate the suspect, described as a white male about 6 feet tall with short brown hair. He was driving a red minivan at the time of the incident, which happened May 25 along Kappa Drive.

Kyle said a window was broken at a business in the area after the suspect shot a crossbow from the driver’s seat of his van. She did not identify the business.

“Luckily, there was no one in the office and fortunately it was a double-paned window,” she said.

Damage estimates were not yet available, but Kyle said the window shattered from the force of the crossbow bolt, leading her to believe the suspect was well within the state’s crossbow safety zone of 50 feet.

Surveillance cameras caught the suspect driving past the business after work hours.

“He spotted the turkeys and turned around,” Kyle said. “He was dressed nice so he wasn’t out hunting and got excited. He was stalking these turkeys with the intent of harvesting one.”

The business owner reported seeing the turkeys in the area for several days before the incident, Kyle said.

She surmised that the suspect also had seen the turkeys traveling through the industrial park and packed his crossbow in case the opportunity arose to take a shot.

“This is illegal in the state,” Kyle said. “You can’t stalk spring turkeys. You can’t move to locate them. You have to be stationery and call them in.”

Kyle said the suspect broke several game laws and faces various citations that begin with a minimum of a $150 fine for an unlawful attempt on a turkey. He also could face a $200 to $500 fine for shooting from within the required safety zone, and he could owe restitution to the business for extensive damage.

“I would really like to hold this person accountable,” Kyle said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Southwest Region at 724-238-9523.