A son of state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong pleaded guilty Tuesday to a series of charges stemming from an encounter he had with a deputy game warden in York County during last year's deer season.

On Wednesday, Sen. Armstrong of Refton proposed a legislative amendment that would reduce the powers of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's deputy wildlife conservation officers.

"It would basically eviscerate our deputy program," said Jerry Feaser, spokesman for the Game Commission.

Sen. Armstrong on Thursday said he proposed the amendment to House Bill 747 after hearing about the encounter that his son, Kristian B. Armstrong, 37, of Airville, had with deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer Llewellyn Kauffman on Dec. 1 in Lower Chanceford Township.

"These deputies have too much power," Sen. Armstrong said. "They can arrest anyone, anywhere, at any time, and they're not professionals.

"They're cowboys with guns."

Sen. Armstrong said he purposely waited until after his son's case was resolved before offering his amendment so it wouldn't appear he was trying to put pressure on anyone to have the charges against his son withdrawn.

According to a police affidavit, Kauffman was on patrol Dec. 1, the first Saturday during the state's two-week, firearms deer season, when the deputy came upon two vehicles stopped on Zimmerman Road.

In one vehicle was David Anderson, who owns the property on both sides of Zimmerman Road, the affidavit states, and in the other were Armstrong and an unidentified passenger.

Kauffman told the men he wanted to check their hunting licenses and firearms, the affidavit states, at which time Armstrong told Kauffman the men were not hunting.

The affidavit says Kauffman asked if the men had any firearms in their vehicles, and Armstrong replied they did not.

When Kauffman walked past the window of Armstrong's vehicle, the affidavit says, the deputy spotted a rifle in the vehicle, sitting next to the passenger.

The affidavit says Kauffman asked the men if the rifle was loaded, and Armstrong told him the men were on private property, while the passenger told Kauffman the rifle was loaded.

As Kauffman walked around the vehicle, the affidavit says, Armstrong drove off across an adjacent cornfield.

The affidavit does not state what happened at that point. It next states that Armstrong and two others arrived at the Lower Windsor Township building and spoke to Game Commission WCO Guy Hansen, who covers southern York County.

The affidavit states that Armstrong refused to identify the passenger in his vehicle, other than to say it was his brother-in-law, and refused to give his own middle name.

When told he could be charged for "refusing to give (identification) as required," the affidavit states, Armstrong asked how much the fine would be and then refused again "to provide the required personal information. …"

Armstrong then "terminated the interview without giving any further personal information," the affidavit says.

According to court documents, Armstrong pleaded guilty July 1 before District Judge Douglas Meisenhelter of Red Lion to the summary offenses of disorderly conduct, resisting or interfering with an officer, failure to produce identification to an officer and driving away to avoid an inspection.

Armstrong was fined nearly $1,300 for the offenses.

Although he pleaded guilty to four offenses, Armstrong said the "whole story is a 100-percent fabrication."

He said he pleaded guilty "for economic reasons" only. Armstrong said having charges pending against him prevented him from gaining licenses for his insurance-management company over the past seven months, which kept him from doing business with certain clients.

"Financially, I couldn't afford to have this case keep dragging on," he said.

Armstrong maintains he was not hunting on Dec. 1 — he said he was patrolling his own property with a rifle, looking for trespassing hunters — and that the deputy had no right to inspect his vehicle or to see his identification.

Armstrong said he drove across his neighbor's cornfield while Kauffman was on the scene to get to his own property.

"Basically what happened is, I didn't give this guy (Kauffman) the time of day, and he flipped out," Armstrong said.

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House Bill 747 was introduced by several state representatives — none from Lancaster County — in March 2007. The bill is designed to allow the Game Commission to sell elk-hunting licenses at auction each year.

The bill was approved by the House in May 2007 by a vote of 196-1.

It was sent to the state Senate Game and Fisheries Committee that same month and then, after an amendment was offered that made stipulations on how the proceeds from the sale of the licenses were to be used, it was put before the Senate for consideration in February.

In March, the bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Armstrong.

On Wednesday, the bill was sent back to the full Senate for consideration, along with an amendment offered by Armstrong.

Under Sen. Armstrong's amendment, deputy wildlife conservation officers would no longer be allowed to:

• Go on any property outside of buildings, posted or otherwise, in the performance of the officer's duty.

• Stop and inspect or search vehicles.

• Inspect and examine or search any person or means of transportation or its attachments or occupants, or any clothing worn by any person or any bag, clothing or container.

• Inspect and examine or search at any time any camp, tent, cabin or trailer when the officer presents identification and states the purpose of the search.

• Operate any vehicle owned or leased by the state for law enforcement purposes that's equipped with flashing lights and a siren.

Deputy WCOs now perform all these functions.

Sen. Armstrong declined to talk in detail about his son's case but said the Game Commission "piled on the charges" in order to "force (his son) into a box."

In a telephone interview, Sen. Armstrong repeatedly referred to deputy WCOs as "cowboys," "wanna-be state troopers" and "unprofessional."

Sen. Armstrong said he has "no problem" with deputies, "but they should only be allowed to enforce the game laws — nothing else."

Having said that, however, the senator said deputies should not be allowed on private property.

"I have a farm, and I don't want them there," he said. "I don't want some cowboy out there on my land with a gun."

According to Feaser, the bulk of the Game Commission's law-enforcement corps consists of deputies.

There are 135 WCO districts — each having one full-time WCO assigned to it.

Those WCOs are assisted by nearly 400 deputies who are not full-time employees of the Game Commission, but who are trained in law enforcement by the agency. Deputies do not receive the same amount of training as full-time WCOs.

"The deputies are absolutely critical in terms of assisting the WCOs — especially during hunting seasons," Feaser said.

While he said the Game Commission is opposed to Sen. Armstrong's proposed amendment, when asked about its possible relation to Kristian Armstrong's Dec. 1 encounter, Feaser said "no comment."

State Rep. Bryan Cutler of Peach Bottom serves on the House Game and Fisheries Committee.

Cutler agreed that some of the game officers' powers should be cut back, including the power of "search and seizure" without first securing a warrant.

But, he said, Sen. Armstrong's amendment "would strip the deputies of all their powers and that's not necessary."

E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com