May 10, 2012
By Bert Case, WLBT.com
State wildlife agents accompanied by an investigator from the Rankin County District Attorney’s Office raided a home in the Regatta Subdivision in Rankin County Wednesday night. A man who lives at 165 Regatta Drive was arrested and charged with illegally harvesting wildlife.
Matthew Jason Richardson, 35, was arrested Wednesday night for capture of an alligator without a state permit. He was put in handcuffs and taken to the Rankin County Jail.
Richardson was free Thursday on a $2,500 bond and will appear before a justice court judge May 17 in Rankin County. Some weapons were also confiscated.
Rankin County District Attorney Michael Guest said, “There was some photographic information that was uncovered showing that the individual, at the reservoir, holding an alligator that had clearly been captured, and based on the information, wildlife and fisheries and the D.A.’s office obtained a search warrant that was executed for them to go into the residence.”