i found my stolen bimini

[scottyt]

title says it, some may remember the thread about my bimini getting stolen.

well about a month ago i saw another hunter 27 with the same style bimini as mine, i got the boat name. later that night i walked up to the boat and talked to a guy sitting on it found out the general area they kept it. so today i went for a bike ride and found the boat its about a mile from my boat. i walked down to the boat and took a few looks and thought it looked like mine. so tonight i went down with my camera and took pics of it in some very recognizable places. when i got home i compared the pics, they match. down to the stitching that wanders, the wear spots etc.

so tomorrow i get my neighbor who is a sgt for the city police to take a ride with me, and get it back.

now here is the funny part. i keep my boat by a charter place called "getaway sailing". the night i saw the other boat a girl that works at getaway was sitting next to the boat, and the guy i talked to sitting on the boat also works for them. the thing that pisses me off is every time i see her she is very friendly and nice to me, i wonder if she knows. i might be talking to the owner of getaway sailing just to inform him that his employees might be involved. the other funny thing is i found a natty bo beer on my boat when the bimini was stolen, the night i saw the other boat there was a case of natty bo on the deck

once i get the bimini back i will be hanging out at the slips telling every one that has a boat there that their neighbor is a thief

any other suggestions ?

[scottyt]

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/genera...my-bimini.html

here is the thread, but for some reason it wont let me put it in as a click link

[sailingdog]

Scottyt—

You have no proof that they stole it or even knew it was stolen property... at best, all you have proof of is that they received it from someone who stole it... If you go accusing them of stealing it, you'd better have better proof than their mere possession of it or you could be accused of slander/libel.

If you go around their marina and say that they're thieves, you're likely to get hammered in court, unless you have fairly substantial proof that they indeed did steal it. Receiving stolen property is a far different thing than actually stealing it... and you don't have any evidence that they knew it was stolen or stole it AFAICT.

Don't go causing yourself more trouble than you've already got. I'd also point out... if they really are the thieves... it might be better to have the local police keep an eye on them, since it is far more likely that they've stolen other stuff and will steal stuff in the future. This is why you were told to report the theft in the original thread... if these guys have a habit of having stolen stuff show up on their boat, the local police are going to probably wonder why that is. If you didn't file a report, you'd are guilty of helping them by omission—you did file a report, right???

Also, if you make a big stink about it...they may decide to retaliate...and it doesn't sound as if your boat is all that secure. Five minutes on a boat with a cordless drill and a long drill bit is all that is needed for them to cause your boat a lot of damage...

I'd also ask if Natty Bo beer a common item in your area or is it an expensive, hard to find microbrew. The beer could be a coincidence...and given that it has been over TWO MONTHS since your bimini was stolen, based on the date of your previous post, do you think they really kept the beer for TWO MONTHS???

One last thing. Digital photos, are rarely accepted as evidence, unless they're RAW format images, which are much more difficult to tamper with. Unless you have some good photos of the bimini with either people or something that is unique to your boat in the image, or witnesses as to when the photos were taken... they may not be taken as proof of your ownership. Digital photos are too easily manipulated to serve as legal proof in most cases. The "original ownership" photos in conjunction with signed affidavits by people in the photos in question, as to when the photos were taken, are much stronger legally IMHO.

IANAL...

Originally Posted by scottyt

title says it, some may remember the thread about my bimini getting stolen.

well about a month ago i saw another hunter 27 with the same style bimini as mine, i got the boat name. later that night i walked up to the boat and talked to a guy sitting on it found out the general area they kept it. so today i went for a bike ride and found the boat its about a mile from my boat. i walked down to the boat and took a few looks and thought it looked like mine. so tonight i went down with my camera and took pics of it in some very recognizable places. when i got home i compared the pics, they match. down to the stitching that wanders, the wear spots etc.

so tomorrow i get my neighbor who is a sgt for the city police to take a ride with me, and get it back.

now here is the funny part. i keep my boat by a charter place called "getaway sailing". the night i saw the other boat a girl that works at getaway was sitting next to the boat, and the guy i talked to sitting on the boat also works for them. the thing that pisses me off is every time i see her she is very friendly and nice to me, i wonder if she knows. i might be talking to the owner of getaway sailing just to inform him that his employees might be involved. the other funny thing is i found a natty bo beer on my boat when the bimini was stolen, the night i saw the other boat there was a case of natty bo on the deck

once i get the bimini back i will be hanging out at the slips telling every one that has a boat there that their neighbor is a thief

any other suggestions ?

[PalmettoSailor]

Come on SD. People make a habit of drinking the same kind of beer, so its likely they were drinking the same kind the night they stole the bimini. Probably quite a few to work up some false courage, then they put one down while removing the bimini and forgot about the evidence they were leaving.

Yes, his case is circumstantial from a strictly legal perspective, but you know and I know if somone took something from your boat that you saw every day and had pictures of, you could identify it, even if you couldn't prove it in court.

If it walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck.

[freddyray]

I will agree you need to be careful when bandying information about. Slander can cost. I would turn it over to the police and let the police do the talking to them. No need of you even being there. Of course if you did not file a report with someone at the very least the harbor master then you are probably screwed except for posting it here. It might do you some good to prove that is was stolen.

[soulfinger]

Let us know how to turns out, but let the police make the moves.

[delan]

any other suggestions ?

Beat the snot out of him?

[scottyt]

yes SD i have a report. and yes i have high res pics of my self, my father inlaw and my wife all with it in view and other pics of just the bimini. all pics are dated. i bought the boat from a charity and i even have the pics of the bimini that they took.

i also still have the beer can they left on my boat, and natty bo is a local beer, not real common, but common enough.

what i plan on doing is to go talk to the girl, put her in the middle. i will tell her to please call the owner of the boat and tell him i am on my way to his boat, and i want it back, if he refuses i will get the police involved. this gives him a safe easy way out. i also plan on having my cop friend with me in normal clothes, so if it gets sour i have him there.

[KindOfBlue]

Be careful. What if this guy provides legit proof like photos of the bimini with him in them taken before yours was stolen?

All you can do is ask where he got it and how long he has had it. Then go from there.

No need to put anyone in the middle.

[JewelledJester]

Maybe they can use the CSI crime solving super computer and run the prints on the bottle through CODUS. Then have a 3d computer rendering of the owner of those prints.