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GoogleAccording to probable cause affidavits written by Indiana Conservation Officer Gregory B. Swanson, both men were allegedly found trespassing on April 23 on property owned by Leroy Patton. The land was said to be very well marked with "No Trespassing" signs.
In the Morrow case, Swanson said he was contacted by Deputy Terry Wade of the Greene County Sheriff's Department who told him Patton had located Morrow on his land, called the Sheriff's Department and walked Morrow out to the road where he was later picked up by another person. Morrow had been dropped off, was mushroom hunting, didn't know he was on Patton's property and didn't know who owned it.
In the Nail case, Swanson wrote that he was contacted by Patton about people trespassing, picking mushrooms without his consent. Patton said Nail wouldn't give him his identifying information and when he told him he was calling police, Nail ran. Patton chased after him and was able to take a photograph with his cell hone as Nail got into his vehicle. The photograph showed Nail, his vehicle and the license plate.
The officer ran the plate which returned to Nail with an Elnora address. When he went to Elnora to try and find him, several people told him Nail had moved to Linton. The officer then contacted the Linton Police Department. They were familiar with Nail and located him.
The affidavit states that when Swanson asked Nail if he knew why he wanted to talk to him, Nail said, "Maybe about mushroom hunting."
According to the affidavit, Nail said he didn't know whose property he was on but someone had told him it was "a good spot." When Patton told him he was calling the police, he took off because he didn't want to get into trouble.
Once charges are approved by the court, Morrow will be issued a ticket on a class C infraction.
The officer issued a citation to Nail along with a court date.
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They were using spore judgement in trespassing. We don't have mushroom around these parts for that kind of thing.
Mr. F that gotta laugh outa me, good one.
mushroom season is way over......I mean this is summer right? lol
my bad, i see now that it was april....
Ahhh teenythomp...much to learn grasshopper. You're missing out on some fantastic chantrels, oyster mushrooms & 2 or 3 other varieties you can easily find this time of year. We had a skillet full of secret recipe fried chantrels just a couple days ago. Being married to a "Yuell Gibbons" has great perks. (I'm not expecting you to know who that is, lol).
I'd give you more information but the less people that know these secrets, the better!
Mr F, you never fail to make me laugh at the absurdities! Thanks!
I catch a person or two every season on my property mushroom hunting. Most of them know they are trespassing whether they admit it or not. Luckily for my trespassers i give a "get out of jail free card" and do not contact law enforcement. I have yet to catch a repeat offender.
P.S. Maybe you should also know that when it comes to mushrooms, in our privately owned woods we shoot first & take pictures later.
This land land owner is a class A ass clown,he clearly stated he knew the guy was just mushroom hunting i would think the owner would be greatfull that is all that was going on.It just sounds a little excessive to me. There was probably a real crime taking place some where else due to the fact that the officers were deep of in a mushroom caper. way to utilize their time and skills! NICE!!
Oh my, it's mushrooms not gold! What is wrong with having a few people on your property hunting mushrooms? Maybe their crime was they did not ask first? One day that land owner will need something and thats when the pay-back will come to light. You create your own destiny.
Why do some people think they can hunt everywhere? If you want to hunt go to the state ground or your own property. Would you like someone to come to your yard or driveway and drink a pop or beer eat a candy bar and just drop the trash and walk away? Private property means PRIVATE wether in your house, yard, garage, woods or corn field. I would not come to your house and clime over your yard gate or open the garage door to look around so stay off of private property. PLEASE
peanut338, hostilestud06:
For what these mushrooms sell for they should have been charged with theft also. Since you think it is okay tell me your address so I can come to your property and steal something. I would consider mushrooms a crop and the land owner may need this extra money to pay his property taxes on this land. It would be no different than stealing cash from your house.
I feel like the landowners have actually been kind to alot of the people..
Go up to Mansfield, look to see how many people from here are there, selling the mushrooms. Its alot, there and Dinky's, Majority of them come back 900+ richer. They do not own any land. so yes its about time the landowners stepped up and said they'r not taking it any longer.
Are you guys serious! You really think it was a waste of time for law enforcement to respond to a trespassing charge? The next time you hear something in the night and think someone may be breaking into your home or car, dont bother to call the law. They have better things to do. If the truth was known I bet you dont have property in your name, unless its a rental agreement. That would explain why you think the people who own property and pay taxes should bend over backwards for people who move every month.
You know, all that land owner had to do was ask them to leave. To me, he is the jerk. Some people thrive on the conflict that they enjoy stirring up. Don't get me wrong, those guys should have never trespassed. I always ask permission and offer to share what i find if they are interested. We all just need to be more responsible.
My guess is that this guy has been running people off for years. I get sick of walking into my woods to find mushrooms where I know they grow and finding one or two because people are going in there while I'm working and picking them before I go out. I've let people off in the past as well. But there comes a time when I'm going to get sick of them being in there and start turning them in. Maybe if people hear about it then they will know that I mean business just like this guy. Now that people have heard this guy will turn you in I bet he has less treaspassers next year.. :) I think it's very smart. Good for him. I just hope he is packing because the way people are now day's you never can know.
Could someone please tell me why these gentleman were ticketed for hunting mushrooms when I had a neighbor cut down 25 trees on my property and when I called the Police I was told it was a Civil
matter! There are too many double standards in our law and Juidical Systems today. People need to stand up and get this changed!
Hey Tom,Don't forget to bring me some Mushrooms here in florida.I use to love the days when the land owners enjoyed seeing others look for Mushrooms. Blueyedame,You couldn't shoot a can 2 feet in front of you.
blueyedame, your either a kid playing on your mama's computer or a total redneck, and I heard greene county is full of them.
Carson,
Your right about the rednecks in Greene County.
They even let them post their illiterate comments on the home page of the paper.
"Little towns like Linton, Etc, will never be nothing but a ghost town as long as there is Walmarts.
-- Posted by Carson_drew on Fri, Jul 3, 2009, at 11:47 AM "
I will have to agree "walmarts is bad"
If someone is getting criminal charges for mushroom hunting,thats when you know Greene County Is messed up,I mean[Mushroom Hunting]Really,And it made News for this coverage.
Casio, would you consider it trespassing and stealing if someone were to come onto your property and pick all your flowers or dig up & steal your shrubs?
I think EvoLouie was just trying to "bust out" Carson for his own mistakes in spelling and grammar. Am I correct Evo?
Blueye when I lived there,Farmers gave us permmission to hunt mushrooms,Ohhh ,I forgot that was in Knox county.That was only on Mushroom season. Then we got out and then everyone went to town and told there wild stories.We never returned till next year.I've also had farmers in green county also let us mushroom hunt.And there not out there to steal your flowers or shrubs.I do believe they must ask permission first so you know who's in your woods but don't make a federal case out of it just because you can.Only Rednecks do that or non believers.
Keyword being "permission".
There, their, they're. Peace, piece. Allot, a lot.
You can read these responses and pick out those who don't own rural property by the comments made here. First of all, let me address, "all the landowner had to do was ask them to leave." Wish it was that easy, but it isn't. Most would come back behind your back and a lot just flat out refuse.
When land is clearly marked "NO TRESPASSING," what does the word NO mean? If you enter the property anyway, then you are just taking your chances ... aren't you? And, by the way, I am pretty sure they see the signs since they take it upon themselves to tear them down or shoot them up.
The first year my husband and I owned a farm, we had hunters from Indianapolis inform us they didn't have to leave because they had permission to hunt on us. When we told them we were the property owners and gave no such permission, they rudely informed us we were not the rightful owners and they were going to continue to hunt. Since our attention was called to them in the first place by the fact their buckshot hit the back of our barn right above my husband's head, we just had to waste law enforcement's time and call them out. Sorry! We also have a friend who asked trespassers to leave and was told to "get in your house and shut your mouth or else." What did that mean? Believe me law enforcement was called then too!
People come onto our land for various purposes. They feel free to hunt, fish, build tree stands, pick blackberries, hunt mushrooms, ride horses, ride ATV's and in one case, ride snowmobliles on a winter wheat crop. When taking part in any of these activities, if our fences impede them they just cut them down with wire cutters; apparently brought along for this purpose.
And, I might add that if any of these trespassers fall out of their tree stands, drown in the pond, get thrown by their horses, flip their ATV's or snowmobiles, or shoot themselves or each other they will surely find a way to reason it is the owner's fault and run to the courthouse as fast as they can to file suit.
It is pretty disheartening to set out to pick your own blackberries only to find the patches beaten down and the berries already picked. It is also disheartening to find all your mushroom patches raided. Our friends have someone who comes onto their farm, while they're at work, and picks the cherries right off their tree. People just seem to feel, if it is out in the country, it is up for grabs.
The "jerk" and "assclown" in this case is not the landowner but the inconsiderate louts who go onto other people's property without asking permission. They are the reason most landowners don't want anyone on their property for any reason these days.
After all, would you like it if I just walked into your house or took your car for a little joy ride without asking? There is no difference. Disrespect for other people's property, no matter what property, is disrespect. And you know what, I bet you'd call the law!
So, I say good for you Leroy Patton! There are all kinds of us who know exactly where you are coming from.