Lost mushroom picker cited for trespassing

A lost mushroom picker found in Coos County was cited for gathering fungi where he shouldn’t have been, according to the Coos County Sheriff’s Office.

Norman Kohl Jr., 56, of Coos Bay, called his family around 8 p.m. Sunday to tell them he was lost near South Slough Sanctuary.

The Coos County Sheriff’s office located Kohl around 9 p.m. by plotting the location of his cell phone.

When they found Kohl, they seized more than six pounds of mushrooms. The haul was estimated to have a street value of $37, officials said.

Kohl trespassed onto private property to harvest mushrooms, according to a sheriff’s deputy. Cameras around the private property captured footage of Kohl trespassing, officials said.

The land Kohl trespassed onto was clearly marked with several signs and a physical barrier, Sgt. Toby Floyd of the Coos County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

Kohl was cited for criminal trespass in the second degree, theft in the third degree and unlawful harvest of minor forest products, officials said.