Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could have been hit with a fine for dumping a dead bear cub in New York’s Central Park, but the state agency that investigated the bizarre incident said the statute of limitations for the decade-old offense has long since expired.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation “led the 2014 investigation and forensic analysis into the Central Park bear cub,” the agency said in a statement Monday.
The discovery of the dead cub in the middle of Manhattan made headlines in October of 2014, but investigators at the time were not able to determine how it got there.
Kennedy acknowledged in a video he posted on social media Sunday that he was the culprit, in an effort to get ahead of a story in the New Yorker that mentioned he was responsible. Kennedy told Roseanne Barr in the video that he’d picked up the dead cub outside of the city after someone had hit it with their car. He said he had plans to skin it and eat it, but time got away from him and he wound up leaving it near a bike path in the park as a joke. He was 60 at the time.
The DEC statement said its probe had indeed “concluded the bear died from blunt-force trauma consistent with a high-speed collision.”
“The investigation was closed later that year due to a lack of sufficient evidence to determine if violations occurred,” the statement said.
The agency said it’s against the law to dispose of a dead bear the way Kennedy said he did.
“The State’s Environmental Conservation Law includes offenses such as illegal possession of a bear without a tag or permit and illegal disposal of a bear, both of which are violation-level offenses typically subject to fines of up to $250 for the first offense,” the agency said. “The statute of limitations for these offenses is one year; charges cannot be brought for incidents that occurred more than one year ago.”
Ron Kuby, a veteran New York criminal defense lawyer, said Kennedy could have faced additional penalties from the city for illegal dumping.
“It’s barely illegal,” Kuby said in a phone interview, adding that while Kennedy could have faced a heftier civil fine from city authorities, up to $1,000, he would not have faced criminal charges.
As for the state violation, it’s “akin to a traffic violation,” Kuby said.
Kennedy’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The city Department of Sanitation used the odd political news as a teaching moment on social media.
“Wondering how to dispose of a dead animal in New York City?” a post on the department’s X account read. It included a figure standing in front of three trash bags in descending sizes, marked “Paddington,” “Fozzie” and “Gummy,” referring to the fictional children’s book character, the Muppet and the candy, respectively.
The post also linked to information on the department’s website about how to properly dispose of a dead animal in New York City.
The statement from DEC, meanwhile, included a link on how to dispose of animals outside the city. “To legally possess a deer, moose, or bear unintentionally killed by a collision, individuals are required to report and obtain a permit from either DEC or local law enforcement,” the agency said.
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