STAR-LEDGER (Bridgeton, New Jersey) 19 October 10 Audra Capps saves turtles, faces Fish & Game charges (Jack Hummel)

Fairfield TWP: Audra Capps looked out her front door overlooking Clarks Pond at 7 o'clock on Sunday, Sept. 12.

The lake was littered with pool toys.

"Oh my God! she thought, "There might be kids in trouble!

So the woman who runs Capps Day Camp quickly got into her boat and went out.

Turns out they were traps.

"I pulled one up and it was loaded with about 30 painted turtles, he said in a phone interview Monday night.

"Twenty of them were dead.

Capps knows enough about painted turles to know that they need to breathe every 40 to 50 minutes.

"The turtles had weighed down the trap and sunk it, she explained.

There were nine other traps.

"I was hysterical! recalled Capps.

She pulled up more until two men walked out of the woods on her property with guns.

One was Fish & Game Officer Todd Vasquez.

He told her to come up to her house.

"But, I have to save the turtles! she protested.

At the house, he told Audra's friend, Mike Del Collo, to go release the rest of the turtles, so long as they're not snappers.

There was not one single snapper, said Capps. "Not one.

That's the reason Christopher Giordano had set the traps.

To catch snapping turtles.

"You're getting charged, Vasquez told Capps.

Almost a month later, the charges arrived from the Fairfield Township Prosecutors Office.

1. "Did hinder or prevent the lawful taking of wildlife.

2. "Did cause damage to property used for trapping.

3. "Exercised control over private property to deprive trappin of harvest.

"I'm facing up to three years in jail, cried Capps.

She said Giordano did not return to check his traps for 29 hours after she first found them.

"You know my father - Ross Capps, she said. "You know he's a chef (Hickory Steak House). You can't sell a dead snapping turtle.

She said they need to breathe, too.

This morning, Audra Capps is supposed to be in the office of Kevin McCann, talking to his wife, Sheila, who is organizing a road rally as an SPCA benefit.

Meanwhile, SPCA Executive Director Bev Greco is burning up the phone lines, also trying to get Capps representation.

"It's just a shame, said Greco, who first alerted the newspaper.
Audra Capps saves turtles, faces Fish & Game charges

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