Tubbs deer killer has criminal record

A 49-year-old man with an extensive rap sheet who admitted to killing a deer on Tubbs Hill last week has now been cited by Coeur d’Alene Police.

Police initially did not cite Timothy C. Condon for shooting the whitetail buck with archery equipment in a Coeur d’Alene city park, but let him off with a warning.

After investigating further, however, officers charged Condon with a misdemeanor. That added another criminal charge to a rap sheet comprised mostly of misdemeanors stemming from incidents throughout Idaho.

Detective Mario Rios said officers received conflicting information from Condon and East Tubbs Hill residents, prompting another look into the Oct. 24 incident. Condon told officers he had gotten the green light from Idaho Fish and Game to hunt in town. Fish and Game denied they had been contacted.

“Once all relevant information was reviewed ... it was determined probable cause exists,” Rios said.

Condon was cited for shooting a bow and arrow in city limits, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and $1,000 fine.

Condon was allowed to keep the deer, police said.

East Tubbs Hill resident Mark Jones said Condon likely shot the deer before dawn because Jones and other residents noticed the deer’s gut pile along the beach around 7 a.m. while on a regular morning walk. It appeared the deer was harvested before “legal shooting hours,” as outlined in state code.

It was apparent that a vehicle had backed up near where the deer was loaded earlier that morning, Jones said.

Idaho Fish and Game publishes legal shooting hours in their regulations. On the morning the deer was allegedly shot, legal shooting hours started around 6:50 a.m., according to regulations.

Idaho Fish and Game Officer Mark Rhodes said his department wasn’t contacted by Condon despite what the man told police. When hunters call the department to ask about harvesting animals in cities, they are usually directed to city ordinances.

“We run into this periodically, but I don’t recall it happening on Tubbs Hill,” Rhodes said. “We don’t have the authority to enforce city ordinances. Our only help is if there was a state violation.”

Condon, who lives on 11th Street a few blocks from Tubbs Hill, had a deer tag, police said.

His prior criminal charges include domestic violence in the early 1990s that were dismissed in Ada and Payette counties, driving violations including citations and misdemeanors, and DUIs including a 2011 felony conviction in Canyon County that resulted in a five-year fixed prison sentence.

Residents of the East Tubbs neighborhood said if Condon had not been cited, it would have sent a message to others that hunting in a city park was no big deal. Their primary concern was safety.

“Even a bow and arrow could pose a safety issue,” said George Sayler, president of the nonprofit Tubbs Hill Foundation. “We would definitely want the city to take action in any such future events so that a message is sent that it is not OK to hunt on Tubbs.”

He said the latest incident was the second episode in the past three years where someone killed a deer on Tubbs Hill.