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Lt. Liza Bobseine, right, and DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos who issued a statement last week lauding Bonseine for her "quick and heroic actions" that he said saved the life of her shot partner.
(DEC)
The state environmental conservation officer credited with saving the life of her partner who got shot while the two were investigating a complaint of illegal deer hunting last week in Columbia County has been lauded before for outstanding actions on the job.
In 2011, Lt. Liza Bobseine was named "Officer of the Year" by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association for her role in hunting education and ensuring safe firearms use. A week after receiving the award, Bobseine was credited with saving the life of a 66-year-old woman who was sitting in her car in a parking lot and had stopped breathing, according to the East Hampton Patch newspaper.
In 2011, Lt. Liza Bobseine was named "Officer of the Year" by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.
Bobseine administered rescue breathing to the woman, the DEC said in a statement, and the woman regained consciousness and was able to be transported to a local hospital."
Last week, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos praised Bobseine for her "quick and heroic actions" in an incident that occurred Tuesday evening around 5 p.m. in the town of Gallatin, 40 miles southeast of Albany.
The two officers investigating a trespassing complaint of a reported trespass with shots fired when they came upon fresh tire tracks, state police said.
"While walking through the field, Davey was shot one time with a rifle in the area of his pelvis," according to State Police.
The shooter, Alan Blanchard, 55, of Columbia County and his hunting partner, James Brown of Pine Plains, were at the location hunting deer. Blanchard told state police that he mistook the environmental conservation officer for a deer, the East Dutchess Daily Voice reported.
The shot was taken nearly a half hour after sunset, which is when the legal time to hunt deer ends each day.
In his statement last week, Seggos noted, "Lt. Bobseine was able to quickly apply a compress to the wound while calling for support and keeping the suspects under control 1/2 mile into a field. It's clear that if it were not for her actions, Officer Davey would not have survived."
Alan Blanchard, who was charged with second-degree assault, is being held at the Columbia County Jail without bail
Davey was listed in stable condition today in the ICU unit at Mid-Hudson Hospital in Poughkeepsie and has shown improvement, DEC said.
Blanchard, who was charged with second-degree assault, is being held at the Columbia County Jail without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 8.
Bonseine grew up rural Cattaraugus County. Her father and grandfather were both state environmental conservation officers. She holds a master's degree in forestry from SUNY ESF in Syracuse and served a short stint as a forest ranger before becoming an ECO.
While at SUNY ESF and Finger Lakes Community College, she captained the Timber Sports Teams to several state and national titles, "and was personally undefeated in her signature event, the pole climb," according to her profile on the New York State Conservation Officers Association website. She was elected president of the group in 2014.
In regard to her 2011 "Officer of the Year" honor by the the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, then-DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis noted that Bonseine "was introduced to shooting by her parents at an early age. She began competing in the state High Power Rifle team at the age of 18 and for the past 12 years has competed and won several awards in rifle and pistol skills at the state and national level."
Lt. Liza Bobseine also has a pilot's license.
Grannis said that Bobseine, who he described as an avid hunter, donated her time to firearm instruction and education through the Women's Outdoor Adventure program and teaching firearms law and safety at hunter safety courses.
While assigned as an ECO to eastern Long Island, she also developed a small bore rifle program for youngsters, according to the NY Conservation Officers' officers website.
In 2012, she studied under her younger brother Gallager and earned her private pilot certificate in Alaska. She owns and flies a 1946 Taylorcraft that she named "Ducky."
She was commissioned as a lieutenant in 2013.
