Last December, a video surfaced on websites showing someone firing shots from a moving car towards forest animals. Police opened criminal proceedings.
It was established that during a hunt, a man saw at least eight deer run out of the forest toward the highway. The man took his hunting rifle and sat in the car behind the driver. At the shooter's instruction, the driver of the car started an arbitrary pursuit of the deer, which can also be seen in the video footage.
The man in the back of the car fired no less than two targeted shots in the direction of the deer through the open window of the car door. After the shots were fired, the deer changed direction and ran across the Ventspils-Kuldīga-Saldus road.
The driver of the car, using the car in his possession as a prohibited hunting tool on the motorway, made a targeted maneuver in the direction of several deer with the aim of hitting the deer.
The carcasses were not found, as the meat was most probably cut up on the evening of December 9. However, the State Forest Service, using public video footage and other necessary actions, proved that a doe and a calf were hunted. Following an inspection by the State Forest Service, the damage was estimated at €11,160.
The police have also completed the investigation against two persons, the driver of the car and the man who fired the shots, and handed over the criminal case files to the prosecutor's office for prosecution. Both persons have no previous criminal convictions.
According to the Criminal Code, the use of prohibited means, methods, tools or techniques of a generally dangerous nature in hunting is punishable by up to four years' imprisonment or temporary deprivation of liberty, or by probation supervision, or by community service, or by a fine. The amount of the fine will be determined by the court.
