Officer Zack Kincaid....

Remember that name. He is the epitome of what is wrong with the refuge in Vieques right now. Lorrie and I had the most awful run in with this egomaniac this morning. This is power trip on steroids 10x. I actually think I have a case for harassment against him.

Did I say I felt like a police magnet this trip?

Ok..so here's how it all unfolded. We drive to the refuge, late again...just taking our time. We go to La Plata, turn out 25 like we always do. I grab my  sticks and begin to construct our refuge friendly cabana. I have the first pole about 6 inches in the sand and am working on the second one, when I hear behind me

"Sir..stop what your doing!"

 So I turn around, I'm on my knees and here he comes, Heinrich Himmler incarnate. I look up at this red-headed officer and say "I've already spoken with Officer Sanchez about this."

 Either not listening or not caring he walks right by me and pulls out the first pole I just set and throws it on the ground.

 I see Lorrie watching this unfold. I once again say "I already spoke with officer Sanchez about this and he said it was alright".

Officer Kincaid answers "How do I know you have spoken with Sanchez?"

"Don't you guys talk to each other or something?"

"Sir please stand up."

"huh?"

"Sir please stand up."

So I stand up and put my hands in my pockets and say "So now we have a problem?"

"Sir, take your hands out of your pockets!"

Ok..at this point I'm like WTF is going on here? I tell Lorrie "start putting things back in the jeep".

Officer Kincaid counters "No ma'am, stay right there."

Ok..now I'm pissed. We've not done anything wrong and this joker is telling my wife what to do. I then  think for a moment. Oh.. jeez...I can't have Lorrie get upset. And here I will have to convey more information that we had planned on. Lorrie had a TIA (stroke) less than a week ago. We almost didn't come to the island and she still cannot drive. Just google TIA and you'll see what I'm talking about. Well this joker is not going to let us leave so I ask him "So what if one of us has a medical condition?"

He replys "How am I suppose to know you have a medical condition"



I say we're just going to leave and he moves toward me in a threatening manner and tells me I'm not going anywhere

Now...I ask ANY OF YOU, would you not be getting really upset by now?

I tell him I'm going to take this to a someone above him and that this is all documented out on the internet.

I start to try and explain the situation and he tells me to stop talking and says that I have raised this to another level. So at this point my only option is to give this egomaniac what he wants, a power trip. So I ask for permission to talk, in a calm clear voice, and then say "what can I do to bring closure to this."

He then says that if I would have let him talk he would explain that he was going to tell me that if I hit some turtle eggs while digging to move to another spot? Plus he informs me "It was the way you said that you had already talked to officer Sanchez that started the whole thing." So I guess we now have rules on the refuge as to how you can and cannot speak, especially to "Herr Himmler."

Come on now...give me a frigg'n break. Then why detain us for 20 minutes and why pull the pole out of the ground. Why order me to stand up and tell my wife not to move. Why not allowing us to leave. This is insane.

 I ask him if this is the way he treats the public and ask to see his badge which he refuses show me. I told him I wanted to take a picture of it. He won't let us see it.  I ask for his name and his superiors.
He writes it on a piece of paper and we leave the refuge.

Now, as you all know,  I have been stopped by two different officers in the refuge. The first guy was just fine and acted as a professional. If the second guy is what the Fish and Wildlife is pushing you can kiss your tourism in the refuge goodbye.

No one should EVER be treated the way we were. Those of you that read this  blog know what we try to do to keep the beaches we love so much clean.

And on a closing note, Officer Kincaid wrote Judy and Andre  each a $150 ticket (that's $300 total) for painting land crab shells with water colors just prior to his diatribe with us.  They were painting shells (empty shells just to clarify)  the way they did here in a post from a couple of years ago:

http://afterthemortage.blogspot.com/2011/02/international-rock-balancing.html

To say the day has been ruined is an understatement. FWIW I meet with  Kincaids boss @ 3:30 this afternoon. Probably be like pushing a rope, but it's the principle of the matter.

I never promised this would be a smooth ride.......

:-(

------------------UPDATE----------------

I spoke with officer Kincaids ( I just don't feel right calling this idiot an officer) boss, Mike, this afternoon. First off Mike is a real gentleman and a professional. I explained the whole situation and he agreed and admitted that he himself uses a honey approach.

 Kincaid came at me with a battle axe.

Anyway...Mike promised me he would speak with Kincaid a.k.a. Herr Himmler later today. He also told me that Kincaid has a rough approach sometimes (I think it's akin to  using a 5lb sledgehammer to crack an egg, but I guess that's just my opinion). He said he is or was a tactical instructor. I think I'm seeing the problem here. This guy wants to be king of the refuge S.W.A.T. team.

With that I'll close this topic. Tomorrow we head back to La Plata, gestapo be damned. Judy and Andre are supposed to meet us. I wonder if Herr Himmler will show up?