Florida wildlife officer spots diver with speargun – then charges him with resisting an officer and multiple fishing violations

A Florida Fish and Wildlife officer patrolling near Vitolo Park in Fort Pierce spotted something that quickly turned a quiet day on the water into a criminal investigation.

According to bodycam footage posted by the wildlife bodycam channel WildlifeWarden, the officer saw a man snorkeling through the mangroves with a speargun on March 16, 2025. When he surfaced, the officer immediately noticed what appeared to be an undersized spiny lobster tucked into his pocket and a speared snook attached to his gear.

The channel’s narrator said the man had no dive flag displayed, and with multiple violations already visible, the officer moved in to make contact.

“Hey, FWC, put the gun down,” the officer said in the footage. “Don’t take the lobster out of your pocket. I see the langosta.”

The officer ordered him to drop the speargun, keep his hands up, and not remove the fish or lobster. She also radioed that she was out with a person carrying a spearfishing device and that he had “one lobster hidden in his pocket.”

From the start, the officer seemed to know exactly what she was looking at, and the tone of the encounter changed fast because she believed the man was trying to get rid of evidence before she could inspect it.

“Don’t Drop Anything”

The officer repeatedly told the diver not to drop anything or remove anything from his belt.

“Don’t take the fish off your belt,” she warned. “I see the robalo. I see the langosta.”

The man, later identified by the channel as Mayor Vasquez Villeta, did not appear to follow those instructions. The officer ordered him to show his other hand, then reacted sharply when she believed he dropped something in the water.

“What did I just say?” the officer asked. “I just told you I’m FWC police and I told you not to drop anything.”

When she asked what he dropped, he described it as “this stuff” from his pocket. The officer pressed him on whether he had more items hidden and warned that if she found anything on the floor, he would face additional charges.

The encounter shows how quickly a fisheries stop can become more than a simple size or season violation. If an officer believes someone is hiding, dumping, or altering evidence, the case can move into resisting or obstruction territory, even before the wildlife violations are fully counted.

The officer then had him move through the water toward an opening, telling dispatch that he was detained. She kept asking whether he had any other fish and whether there were more lobsters besides the one in his back pocket.

He said there were no other fish and no other lobsters.

The Officer Finds A Speared Snook And Undersized Lobster

Once they reached a clearer area, the officer began checking what the man had with him.

She pulled the snook from his gear and immediately noted that it had been speared. She also said the lobster was undersized.

“The snook is speared, illegal method of harvest,” the officer said in the footage. “The lobster is undersize.”

The man told her he had not measured the fish. When she asked whether he had speared it, he appeared to deny it at first, but the officer said she could tell by looking for the spear wound.

This is one of the more important parts of the footage, because the violations were not hidden in some technical reading of the law. The officer said the snook was both undersized and taken by an illegal method, while the lobster was too small and had not been measured with a proper measuring device.

The officer later explained that spiny lobster are highly regulated and must be measured correctly. In the footage, she pointed out where the lobster’s carapace measurement should begin and end, saying it was “way too small.”

She also recovered several tulip snails, a lobster, snook, sheepshead, and the speargun, according to her radio update.

It is easy for casual viewers to hear “fishing violations” and think of something minor, but wildlife laws exist because species can be damaged quickly when people take undersized animals or use banned methods. One illegal catch may look small, but repeated behavior like that is exactly why officers patrol these areas.

Dive Flag Questions And A Language Issue

The officer also questioned whether the man should have had a dive flag displayed.

At first, she said she saw a mask but no snorkel, which might have changed the dive flag issue. But after inspecting his gear, she found a mask and snorkel and said that when a snorkel is used, a dive flag is required.

She also addressed whether the man understood her commands.

The officer said a friend on the shoreline told her the diver spoke English well. She told Vasquez Villeta that she knew he understood her when she identified herself as FWC and told him not to reach into his pocket or remove anything from his gear.

“Would have been a lot simpler if you just listened to me,” the officer said.

The man replied that he was nervous.

The officer pushed back, saying she understood that he was nervous, but that nervousness did not explain throwing or dropping things after being told not to. She also noted that the water was clear and she could see his movements.

That exchange matters because the officer was building the resisting portion of the case around what she said were clear commands, visible evidence, and the man’s failure to follow instructions.

Questioning After Miranda

After they got out of the water, the officer read Miranda warnings and asked whether he wanted to speak with her. He agreed.

The officer asked how long he had been in the United States, and he said more than 20 years. He said he was not in school and gave his age as 33.

When asked if he knew the rules and regulations for fishing, he answered, “Not really,” then said he did not fully understand them.

The officer asked what he did understand about snook. He said there were seasons, but when asked whether snook were in season or what size they had to be, he said he was not sure.

The officer also asked whether he had a measuring device for the lobster. He said no and indicated he saw it and wanted it. When she asked if he killed it with a knife, he said yes, though she later pointed out a hole that appeared relevant to how it was taken.

This part of the footage reads like a common problem in wildlife cases: the person admits they know there are rules, but not enough of them to stay legal. That is not a strong defense when someone is carrying regulated species, especially with a speargun in hand.

If someone is going to harvest wildlife, the responsibility to know the rules comes before the catch, not after the officer shows up.

Arrest And Call To His Wife

The officer asked about identification and whether Vasquez Villeta had a Florida ID. He said he had only a passport, though he was not completely sure it was in the vehicle because his wife had used it for their children’s passports.

He also said he was not a U.S. citizen. The officer explained that because she did not have a reliable U.S. identification card tying him to Fort Pierce or St. Lucie County, and because there were several misdemeanor offenses, she could not simply issue a notice to appear.

Instead, she told him he was being taken to jail.

“At this time, you’re being arrested for undersized snook, speared snook,” the officer said. “You have an undersized lobster as well. And you also weren’t listening to me when I told you not to touch anything and you were trying to get rid of it.”

The officer later spoke by phone with his wife, Roxanne, and explained that her husband had been found with an undersized speared snook and an undersized lobster. She also told Roxanne that when she ordered him not to touch anything, he tried to throw something away.

The officer said he was being taken to the St. Lucie County Jail, where he would be booked and processed and could possibly bond out later if he made bond.

The WildlifeWarden narrator said at the end of the video that Mayor Vasquez Villeta was charged with resisting an officer and multiple fishing violations, including harvesting an undersized spiny lobster and spearing an undersized snook.

His catch and gear were seized as evidence, and the illegal species were returned to the water, according to the channel.

The case is a reminder that wildlife enforcement is not just about checking coolers at boat ramps. Sometimes it is an officer walking through mangroves, watching carefully, and catching violations as they happen in real time.