It was a turtle skull on a plane that set off alarm bells for officers, listening to two hunters loudly boast about a Napa-based operation killing endangered species.

The officers were dressed in plain clothes and seated in front of a couple who were discussing hunting. A conversation with the officers and the unsuspecting couple ensued that ultimately led to the couple disclosing that they were transporting a sea turtle skull from the East Coast in their luggage. The couple also discussed their unlawful take of a mountain lion, which is a specially protected species in California illegal to hunt or possess in whole or in part.

The couple then spoke openly about a close family member’s unlawful possession of multiple taxidermized mountain lions, a wolverine and wolves at the family member’s residence in Napa County. The couple then proceeded to share a video with the wildlife officers of the family member’s “trophy room” where the illegal mounts were displayed.

After deboarding the plane, the wildlife officers asked if the couple would show them the sea turtle skull. The suspects acknowledged the potential unlawful possession and waited until after any Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers could see before showing the officers the sea turtle skull concealed in a jacket inside their carry-on luggage. The skull belonged to a green sea turtle, a federally listed endangered species illegal to possess and transport.

These murderous criminals were fined around $2,000 each, which seems absurd given the huge amount of irrecoverable damage intentionally done. And they had their license for hunting pulled? I’m sure that doesn’t mean anything to them anyway.

In the process of serving the search warrant in Butte County, wildlife officers found the couple processing a deer that was taken illegally earlier in the day. Deer season was closed, and the suspects had no deer tags. Also inside the residence, wildlife officers found mountain lion claws, a ringtail cat, a barn owl mount, an illegal spike buck and several unlawfully taken deer with tagging violations.

Ringtail cats are a fully protected species in California. Mounted raptors and raptor parts are illegal to possess without appropriate state and federal permits.

At the family member’s residence in Napa County, meanwhile, wildlife officers discovered two illegal, full-bodied taxidermized mountain lions and one full-bodied taxidermized wolverine. Wolverines are another fully protected species in California illegal to possess.

No tags. No licenses. No worries, apparently for 24-year-old Byron Lee Fitzpatrick, 28-year-old Shannon Lee Price and 64-year-old Harry Vern Fitzpatrick. Here they are wearing a Florida “MadeByMommaCraftCo” image of Santa Claus holding a shotgun, above the phrase “Tis the Season”, openly celebrating murder of vulnerable endangered sea turtle.

While the report says these arrogant and sloppy criminals couldn’t wait to show wildlife officers a green sea turtle skull, to me it looks like a loggerhead was killed.

Had they been holding up a big bag of smuggled cocaine to show officers instead, while wearing an image of Santa Claus smoking a cigar, just think of the penalties.

Like human and narcotics trafficking, wildlife trafficking of both live animals and animal parts is known to fund transnational criminal organizations and their violent activities all over the world. The individuals involved exhibited a flagrant disregard for laws governing natural resources and are now being held accountable for their actions.

Ok, strong words, yet only $2,000 in fines? Come on. Take the market value of all those endangered animals to start with, then add the market value of the equipment used, including the buildings, vehicles and all hunting gear. If penalties aren’t close to those levels of profit, rising to true accountability is doubtful.

Consider, for example, an arrest following a tip to offers can lead to a $3,500 reward. Are rewards for catching these criminals higher than penalties for the crimes? If you are witness to any California poaching you can call CALTIP at 888 334-CALTIP (888 334-2258) or use CitizenObserver.com by texting “CALTIP” followed by a space and your message to 847411 (tip411). CALTIP also offers a smartphone App for anonymous communication with wildlife officers.

A recent Florida court ruling in the Banner case stated there was “no evidence Tesla should’ve known Autopilot features were likely to kill or maim.” This conclusion defies reality and mocks the families of over 50 people who have died in Tesla Autopilot-related crashes since 2016.

The Evidence is Clear

Tesla has known about Autopilot’s fatal flaws from the beginning:

• The first death occurred in January 2016 in China when Gao Yaning’s Model S crashed into a street sweeper
• Months later, Joshua Brown became the first American casualty when his Tesla drove under a semi-truck
• These deaths weren’t anomalies – they were the start of a pattern that has continued for eight years

Tesla Stands Alone

No other manufacturer with similar technology has such a deadly record:

• Leaders in autonomous driving GM, Mercedes, Nissan, and Volvo haven’t accumulated dozens of deaths with their driver assistance systems
• Only Tesla vehicles regularly fail to detect cross-traffic and emergency vehicles parked on highways

Internal Knowledge vs. Public Claims

• Tesla’s own engineers have testified about the disconnect between internal knowledge and public marketing
• While promoting “Full Self-Driving,” internal documents showed engineers were aware of critical limitations
• The company continued pushing capabilities they knew were dangerous

Safety Compromises

• Tesla has repeatedly removed safety features like radar and ultrasonic sensors for cheaper camera-only systems
• Internal safety projects were scrapped and restarted, losing critical knowledge
• Their engineering patterns are so problematic that incident rates increase after attempted recalls

Documented Pattern of Failure

The data clearly shows both serious incidents and fatal incidents increasing faster than fleet size growth. This pattern is so evident, so obvious, the federalist judges clearly are wrong about a trivial prediction of harms.

Deaths Exceed Domestic Vehicle Terrorism

Tesla Autopilot-related deaths now exceed those from domestic terrorism involving vehicles.

A Failed Justice System

This ruling isn’t just incorrect – it insults the families of Pablo Teodoro III, Walter Huang, Naibel Leon, Jeffrey Nissen, and dozens of others who died because Tesla prioritized fraud, documented fraud, over safety. It puts more lives at risk and demonstrates how our justice system has failed to hold Elon Musk accountable.

If eight years of documented engineering failures, dozens of fatalities with similar characteristics, and whistleblower testimonies don’t meet the threshold for “should have known,” then what possibly could?

There seems to be an uptick in Tesla crashing head-on into big trucks and buses lately.

The accident happened on February 25th in Harrison, New Jersey along Ellis Mill Road.

According to Fox 29, A 44-year-old motorist was behind the wheel of a 2021 Tesla car heading northbound at around 6:30 a.m. when he veered into the path of an oncoming southbound Mack dump truck “for an unknown reason.” The Tesla then crashed into the driver’s side of the Mack truck.

This investigation, which already reads similar to the others, says the Tesla suddenly veered into the truck’s path.

Their investigation found the Tesla veered into the southbound lane and hit the dump truck’s front driver side.

Witnesses say the Tesla lost control after hitting a road bump at high speed.

Although apparently the occupant survived the crash initially, witnesses say they weren’t able to pull them out before intense fire started and burned the driver to death.

A neighbor told CBS13 that, upon hearing a loud bang, they rushed to the scene to try and help the driver.

“I really wasn’t thinking. It was just instinct,” said neighbor Juan Oranday.

Oranday said he witnessed the Tesla crash into the parked car just outside his home.

After running up to it he found a mangled car with a person still in the driver’s seat, who he says was not alert.

“I tried my best. I wish I was quicker for them,” Oranday said. “It just shows that life is valuable and seconds really do matter.”

He and other neighbors tried to cut the driver from their seatbelt and free them from the inflated airbag when the car quickly caught fire.

“The smoke went immediately to my face. The flames engulfed everything so quickly it was just tragic,” Oranday said.