Fremont County man arrested on suspicion of illegally killing three bears

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Fremont County man was arrested this weekend on the suspicion that he illegally killed three bears at his home near Howard, Co.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), wildlife officers responded to reports on social media of an alleged poaching incident last Friday. The officers discovered three bears, a sow with two cubs, had been killed and dumped on state land near Salida.

CPW said the officers' investigation led them to obtain a search warrant on Saturday for a home near Howard. At the home, the officer found evidence that the three bears had been shot there on Monday, Sept. 25, according to the agency.

After executing the warrant, CPW officers arrested 52-year-old Paul Stromberg on assorted wildlife charges including a felony count of illegal destruction of wildlife and several misdemeanors including unlawful killing of wildlife without a license, unlawful possession and waste of game meat. Stromberg was booked into the Fremont County Jail and was later released on a $10,000 bond.

CPW said because this is an ongoing investigation, no further information about the incident will be released at this time.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact CPW at its Salida office at (719) 530-5520. 

To provide information anonymously about a wildlife violation, the public can contact Operation Game Thief at 877-265-6648, by dialing #OGT from a Verizon cellphone, or by email at game.thief@state.co.us.