The Pennsylvania police chief whose community is mourning the poaching of a beloved local bald eagle is vowing justice in the case as concerned neighbors question why weeks have gone by without the state Game Commission announcing charges.
As Fox News Digital has reported, residents of the Cherry Valley Lakeview Estates outside Pittsburgh were shocked to find one of their two local mature bald eagles gunned down in a field in May.
The pair had been in the area for decades and recently hatched two eaglets, residents told Fox News Digital last week.
While a suspect’s name has not yet been released, Mount Pleasant Township Police Chief Matthew Tharp said that state, local and federal authorities are all “committed to seeing that justice is served.”
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“I do understand that a suspect has turned themself in to the Game Commission for questioning, and we believe that the suspect will face any appropriate state and/or federal charges in due course upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigations,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission separately told Fox News Digital that the investigation was still open Monday and that authorities expected to reveal more before the end of the month.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment.
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“To this date, Mount Pleasant Township Officers and I have remained fully engaged in this investigation, have continued to pursue any and all relevant leads and information,” the chief said. “We have and shall continue to remain fully engaged and committed to this important investigation until such time as we are informed, along with the public, that the state and/or federal authorities have concluded their investigations, and have identified and determined to charge the party responsible for the bald eagle’s death.”
Once the investigations are fully completed, he said, he expects “appropriate” charges and penalties under both state and federal law.
“In the meantime, as emotionally charged, understandably upsetting, and as close to home as this matter is to our department, Mount Pleasant Township, and to all of our concerned residents and citizens of good will, I would urge folks to resist the urge and to refrain from using social media or any other outlet to make threatening statements or what could be considered or construed as physical threats towards any alleged suspect(s), or any persons, and that we please respect and allow the legal process to proceed,” he said.
Bald eagles are considered one of the country’s greatest wildlife preservation success stories, and populations have rebounded across the U.S. after they were first placed on the endangered species list, according to authorities.
However, when they were upgraded from endangered to protected, the state penalty in Pennsylvania was downgraded to just a summary violation fine of up to $200.
The Pennsylvania state Senate recently passed a bill to raise the fine to $2,000 in an effort to discourage poaching.
“While it is encouraging to see the rebound in the eagle population in recent decades here in Pennsylvania, we must continue to safeguard this progress and deter the killing of these emblematic creatures,” State Sen. Lisa Boscola, who has been pushing for the bill since 2015, said last month.
In 1980, there were just three pairs of nesting bald eagles in the entire state, according to her office.
Now, there are more than 300, said Seth Mesouras, the information and education supervisor for the State Game Wardens’ Southwest Region.
“A bald eagle is very near and dear to people’s hearts,” he told Fox News Digital. “When I was growing up, I didn’t get too many opportunities to see one.”
Now, he said, along with an increase in their numbers, the public is also reporting more crimes with the help of social media and smartphone cameras.
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“Once they delisted them, took away their endangered species status in the state, it made it a summary violation in the fifth degree,” he said. “They were just protected, kind of like a chipmunk is protected, or a robin is a protected bird.”
The new law would not only increase the fine, but also charge restitution to the suspect to cover the cost of introducing a new bald eagle to fill the void.
The federal penalty for poaching a bald eagle can include a fine of up to $100,000 and up to one year in prison for a first offense, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Fox News’ Jordan Early contributed to this report.