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Indiana, United States
Empty nesters...ready to stretch our wings. Life is good and we plan on making it even better. This blog is mostly about our trips to Vieques Puerto Rico, with a few odds and ends thrown in about our life after the mortgage.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

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?

 

19 comments:

  1. so I am SURE you met the same guy that we did. He said he was from Colorado originally and was absolutely on a power trip! We ended up spending the last few days on La Chiva.....

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    1. I spoke with his superior this afternoon. He is a tactical instructor or was. The guy is a loaded cannon. I actually felt threatened by the man. He is dangerous. Also, when I was speaking to his boss I ask the question about the restricted area he claimed and Mr Zack Kincaid is absolutely wrong about that. The restricted area doesn't even begin until just pass the boat launch area further down the road past La Plata. For what it's worth his boss is a real gentleman and a very nice guy, the kind you would like to have a beer with.

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    2. UGH!!! He's in Louisiana now! He needs to be removed from his power trip position!!!

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    3. UGH!!! He's in Louisiana now! He needs to be removed from his power trip position!!!

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  2. That whole scene is really too bad. i've been there many times (Navy) and my Brother (Marine Corp. stationed there) even more so. we're actually going to make an issue of this with (much) higher ups. take care Curt n Lorrie.

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    1. We appreciate any help you can give us. Firstly, I don't think this man had the right to treat us the way he did. Secondly, we love Vieques and hate to see it go down this road.

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  3. Did his superior mention speaking with the officer about the incident? Hopefully to put end to this.

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  4. Sorry just saw the update!

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  5. Bad Boys, Bad Boys, What ya gonna do?

    Dave and Ryan

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  6. What an a$$hole! You could email sandy malone @ weddings in vieques who is friends with bruce butler who I believe has a supervisory position with F&W.

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  7. One tip..don't involve a wedding coordinator with another agenda to a F & W matter. If you would like Bruces information you should go to Mike as so many have before.

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  8. I live here and have had three run ins with, as I call him, the sphincter patrol! He is a maniac! He even pulled me over once OFF the refuge! He stresses me OUT! He told me once mam' You must tell me the truth to the questions I just asked you!!! As a federal officer of the law you are required to tell me the truth! And I am trained to tell if you are lying...the look on my face was totally bewilderment as to what this yahoo actually wanted....turned out he had it in his head that I was giving tours of the refuge....say what????

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    1. I believe there is now enough documentation to get this guy removed. I urge you to talk with Mike at the refuge. There are all kinds of complaints about this guy. He is hurting things on the refuge and needs to be removed, he is a danger. The more complaints, especially from locals and business owners, the sooner he will be gone.

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  9. I was violently harassed by Fish and Wildlife Officer BRUCE BUTLER, along with 5 other people, at Playa Plata a few years ago. It was a terrible experience, I never went to the beach alone after that. It is never appropriate for an officer to manipulate using their position of power with fear and anger. It is especially bad when the main purpose of that position is to teach people to protect and understand the ecology they are enjoying. It is very possible that Officer Butler trained Officer Kincaid. In my situation, Officer Butler was joined by another officer being trained, who was clearly shocked by the way Officer Butler was handling the whole thing. How was that a positive learning experience for the rookie officer? Or for me? I learned to fear someone that was there to protect the nature I love. Unfortunately, the scary intimidation attitude could be coming from certain supervisors, people who hire and train new Fish and Wildlife employees.

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    1. These are federal positions and can be controlled. I still say that enough comlaints about this guy and he's gone. You have the right to tell him to go screw himself, it's called the the 1st amendment. If this continues with Zach, especially given the push to develope tourism on Vieques, he will cross the wrong person and then the preverbial "sheit" will hit the fan. He's an absolute loaded cannon, it's only a matter of time before it happens.

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    2. you can file a complaint against officer butler for misconduct its always an option complaints don`t have and expiration date!

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  10. I live in Louisiana, and was harassed and charged a $425 fine by officer Kincaid. He is a refuge officer in Venice, LA now. He had the audacity to come to my house to give me the citation, I wasn't given it at the moment he came (which was out of nowhere). I would love to see his badge removed, ESPECIALLY after reading complaints from others

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    1. We have to go to court tomorrow. Call Shannon at Bayou Adventure in Lacombe. I have a list of 20 names and numbers of complaints on this guy!! (985) 882-9208

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    2. We have to go to court tomorrow. Call Shannon at Bayou Adventure in Lacombe. I have a list of 20 names and numbers of complaints on this guy!! (985) 882-9208

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