NM teenager arrested for shooting hawk

A Luna County man now faces possible federal charges after he admitted to shooting a Harris Hawk. On Saturday, the Luna County Sheriff's Office arrested William Hefley, 18, on an extreme cruelty to animals charge for shooting and killing a five-year-old Harris Hawk valued at $3,000. "He was out there to kill the family dog; it was old and had to be put down," Saenz said, noting Hefley initially denied shooting the bird and later confessed, but was short on the exact details surrounding the shooting. "He first said the hawk went into the line of fire." Hefley now faces a fourth degree felony approved by the Sixth Judicial District Attorney's Office. But Sheriff's investigators said the case is being turned over to the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, which could pursue federal charges for killing a protected species...more