Drunk Man Hijacks Yacht To Escape Police After Bar Fight
Bodycam Video Of Drunk Man Hijacking Yacht To Escape Police - On July 16, 2023, an officer on patrol in Key Largo, Florida, responded to a disturbance at Skippers, a restaurant at 528 Caribbean Dr. The restaurant manager reported that his bartender had been threatened by an intoxicated individual who had been advised to pay his bar tab due to his high level of intoxication. The subject became angry and threatened the bartender.
The officer spoke with the bartender, who confirmed the threat and requested that the subject be asked to leave the property. The bartender noted that the subject was last seen walking towards his yacht at the docks behind Skippers and described him as having long hair, a beard, and wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt and pants.
The officer proceeded to the docks to issue a trespass warning. Upon arrival, the officer observed a large white yacht with a female and a small child on board. Recognizing the female from prior law enforcement contact, the officer inquired about her husband's whereabouts. The female was uncooperative and intoxicated, providing only a first name. The child then revealed the husband's last name.
The officer searched the boat but did not find the subject. The officer identified the husband through the Master Name Index and returned to the bar to confirm if he was the person involved. The staff confirmed that he was the one who had threatened the bartender.
While discussing the situation with a deputy, Skipper's staff reported that the subject had returned to his vessel and was attempting to leave. Deputies observed the man, matching the description, operating the yacht as it left the dock. The officer confirmed the identity and issued a trespass warning.
The officer witnessed the man operating the yacht erratically, losing control and causing the vessel to perform a 360-degree turn. Deputies contacted the US Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife, reporting the reckless operation and possible intoxication. The subject crashed into multiple vessels without stopping, ignoring repeated commands to stop. The vessel had multiple occupants, including a child and elderly individuals, whom the subject endangered by his reckless behavior.
The officer followed the vessel further up the canal, witnessing more destruction. The occupants of the boat screamed for help, demanding the subject stop immediately. The vessel ping-ponged through the canal, damaging docks and other vessels. A child on board was nearly thrown overboard, and an elderly female yelled for the subject to stop, but he continued driving recklessly, evading deputies. Deputies attempted to stop the vessel at the end of Caribbean Drive but heard a loud crash as the vessel made a turn and continued down the canal towards the Atlantic.
Deputies collected statements from multiple witnesses, and dispatch received numerous 9-1-1 calls reporting the destruction. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) took over the investigation of the boat crashes and vessel damage, with deputies providing collected statements to FWC.
FWC and the US Coast Guard were unable to locate the vessel that night. The next day, the involved vessel was found on the oceanside of Blue Fin Rock Harbor RV Park and Marina, being towed by Tow Boat US Key Largo. Two individuals aboard provided verbal statements.
They stated they had purchased the vessel about three months prior and had been repairing it while keeping it at Key Largo Harbor Marina. At the marina, they met a man who presented himself as a captain capable of operating their vessel, and they hired him for their first trip. The captain brought along his girlfriend or wife and another male identified as his cousin.
Upon returning to the Port Largo Canal, the captain ignored their request to dock at the marina and instead took the vessel to Skippers Dockside. They reported that the captain spent hours at Skippers with his companions. The individuals did not disembark while the vessel was docked. When the police arrived looking for the captain, one of the individuals mentioned that the girlfriend intervened, preventing her from answering the officer's questions. The captain returned to the vessel acting differently, and despite their pleas, he refused to stop the vessel.
The individuals believed the captain was heavily intoxicated as they felt the vessel collide several times during the escape. According to one of them, the captain ran the vessel aground before jumping off, leaving them on the grounded vessel without further knowledge of how or when the other occupants left.
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