Two Men Charged For Illegal Deer Hunting

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- In a wild case of illegal hunting, two men face a slew of charges after allegedly killing nearly a dozen deer in the middle of the night and dumping the carcasses.

The two suspects face 73 counts of illegal deer hunting, and it's one of the worst cases police say they've seen in years.

RELATED: Police: 2 Men Charged After Sniping Deer From Car, Dumping Bodies

After a year long investigation, John Gallano IV, and Christopher Johnson are now being pinned with the crime, in one of the most egregious cases authorities can remember.

"This definitely ranks up there among the top," said Acting Lt. Aaron Parker, with Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources Police.

In October of 2015, DNR police say Gallano and Johsnon went on a hunting spree, sitting in their car and firing a crossbow at deer, and using a spotlight to help. All of this, late at night near the Spring Grove Hospital Center, stretching across multiple counties. They killed a total of 8 deer in just hours.

"The most shocking part of this, is the fact that all they did was dump the deer. Most times we run into poachers," said Lt. Parker.

People here in Anne Arundel County are up in arms over the incident, because police say the two men dumped most of the carcasses in Pasadena neighborhoods.

"I would've never thought the deer would be dumped back there, it's crazy," said Pasadena resident Ray Truelove.

He's worried about the safety of his own kids, with weapons being fired and carcasses laying around.

"There's other ways to dispose properly, but just throwing off in the woods, it's not right," he said.

Truelove and others neighbors hope the stiff charges send a strong message.

"You do the crime you do the time, so it's pretty basic and simple," he said.

The charges for both men could result in fines of more than $50,000 along with jail time. Police say in the state of Maryland, you need written permission to hunt on all property, which neither of the men had, and it's illegal to hunt deer at night.

Additionally, none of the killed deer were logged in or recorded as required by state law. Both men are due back in court over the next few weeks. Two of the eight deer shot were not recovered by the shooters.

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