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More charges for upstate hunter involved in Mattituck altercation

COURTESY PHOTO | A photo of hunter Daniel Lamphere taken by a friend at Peconic Bay Medical Center’s emergency room shows injuries allegedly inflicted during an altercation in Mattituck in January.

The charges keep piling in the case of the hunter who claims he was beaten by a retired policeman in a Mattituck field in January.

On Monday, the state Department of Environmental Conservation accused the hunter, Daniel Lamphere of Rensselaer, N.Y., of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000 and/or a year in jail.

He is to be arraigned on that charge on May 2.

As a convicted felon, Mr. Lamphere could not legally possess the single-shot shotgun he carried when hunting in Mattituck, said DEC spokesman Bill Fonda, who declined to list the felony convictions said to be on Mr. Lamphere’s record.

According to the state Division of Parole’s website, Mr. Lamphere was released on parole in Oct. 1994 after serving jail time for a felony conviction on attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, fifth degree.

Mr. Lamphere was deer hunting in an open area south of the Farmveu neighborhood on Jan. 26 when he shot and killed “Bear,” a German shepherd he said was attacking him. He told Southold police the dog’s owner, former Suffolk County police officer Jon Ferris of Mattituck, wrestled his gun away and beat him about the head with the butt stock. Mr. Lamphere suffered a wound that required 12 staples to close.

Mr. Ferris was charged with one felony count of second-degree assault. His case was to be heard in Southold Justice Court on Friday, March 25, but was postponed to April 15.

He was recently ticketed by the DEC for allegedly feeding deer, a violation.

The DEC previously charged Mr. Lamphere with firing a weapon within 500 feet of an occupied house and hunting without the landowner’s permission.

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