Blood Trail Leads Police to California Poachers
OutdoorHub Reporters 11.30.12
If it weren’t for the large amount of blood coming from their Toyota SUV, two men from California likely would not have gotten caught poaching a deer in El Dorado County. The men, Scott Lee, 46, and Nai Saechao, 32, both from Sacramento, reportedly shot a spike male deer off of a road with a shotgun. The two loaded it into the SUV and drove off, but during the drive, the deer, apparently not dead, regained consciousness and began struggling in the vehicle.
One or both of the men took out an edged weapon to stab the deer until it finally died, according to a press release from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. The blood was so excessive that it was coming out of the back of the vehicle. Police caught up with the man because of the multiple 911 calls reporting the blood trail from the botched poaching.
“The two occupants of the Toyota were trying to hide their faces as the driver was speeding away,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Multiple officers were sent out to catch up with the poachers. They were stopped speeding traveling westbound on Highway 50 nearing the county line. The officers did not know what to expect when approaching the vehicle, so they conducted a felony stop. Inside, they found the carcass of a freshly-killed deer. The men and the car were covered in blood.
Both Lee and Saechao were booked into the El Dorado county jail and posted bail later that night. They were charged with poaching, animal cruelty, and other offenses.
