Connecticut Department of Environmental Conservation police arrested Alden Brooks, 65, 26 Falls Ave., Waterbury, and charged him with second-degree negligent hunting, Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dennis Schain said. EnCon police determined Brooks shot Peter Paveglio, 35, of West Hartford, in the face, head, neck and arm while hunting for pheasant around 10:30 a.m., Schain said.

Paveglio was taken to Sharon Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, Schain said.

EnCon Police determined that Paveglio was struck with a bird shot fired from a hunter who was about 225 feet away. Paveglio was crossing an open field while Brooks was aiming for a pheasant in the same field, Schain said. Paveglio was in a hunting party with one other person, and Brooks was in a hunting party of two other people, he said.

Brooks was released on a written promise to appear in Bantam Superior Court on Nov. 2.
The DEP stocks pheasants in the Robbins Swamp Wildlife Management Area, and Saturday was the first day of small-game hunting.

Toward this end, the DEP reminds hunters this season to take all proper safety precautions to avoid injury, Schain said.