[khammett]

Happened just days ago.

Video - Man Steals 80-Foot Yacht And Immediately Gets Stuck, Calls For... | www.ktvu.com

An 80-foot-yacht named "Stimulus" was stolen from a dock in Newport Beach, Calif. in a crime so brazen the thief even called Harbor Patrol for help during the alleged heist.

 

[khammett]

Another article.

Man accused of stealing $3 million yacht ? and then it gets interesting - The Orange County Register

NEWPORT BEACH - It's a sea-chanty question that's puzzled many a salty pirate.

What, exactly, do you do with a drunken sailor?

Authorities say that's one question posed in the case of a $3 million yacht stolen last week from Newport Harbor and recovered off Long Beach.

Richard Rodriguez, 32, of Whittier, is accused of taking the 78-foot boat, Stimulus.

At one point, Orange County Harbor Patrol deputies had the fleeing boatman in their grasp but inadvertently helped him get away.

The high-seas escapade was short-lived nonetheless.

Rodriguez was arrested a day after the June 26 theft - after he attempted to ram a Long Beach police boat with the stolen yacht, authorities said.

"It was a drunken sea pirate adventure," Long Beach police Detective Joseph Starbird said.

For now, Rodriguez is landlocked.

He was booked into the Los Angeles County Jail on suspicion of boating while intoxicated, assault on a police officer, criminal threats and grand theft of property, along with a sentencing enhancement for a $30,000 fraud warrant, Long Beach police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said.

The odyssey began early June 26, when Rodriguez is suspected of breaking into the Stimulus, which was docked at a private mooring on Balboa Island, said Jennifer Manzella, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department.

The would-be yachtsman forced open a hatch and a screen on the Stimulus and then found a set of keys to start the boat and pulled away from the dock, said Craig Brewer, the yacht's skipper.

However, the getaway soon became tricky, when the boat became stuck between two docks and began drifting toward a seawall, Brewer said.

The man radioed the Harbor Patrol for help. Brewer said he was told Orange County Sheriff's deputies used boats to free the yacht and helped it safely reach the mouth of the harbor.

Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said the man operating the Stimulus seemed very familiar with the boat and didn't exhibit any unusual behavior that made deputies suspicious. The man told deputies the boat was registered to a California corporation, and they didn't have enough information to disprove that claim, Hallock said.

The next day, Brewer went to where the Stimulus had been moored and noticed the boat was gone. He wasn't initially alarmed and believed the yacht's owner, an official with Ocean Adventures LLC, had taken the boat out to sea.

However, Brewer later talked with the owner, determined the boat had been stolen, and notified Newport Beach police and the Harbor Patrol. The boat, Brewer said, had no food on board, only alcohol.

Newport Beach police put out an alert and, a few hours later, the yacht was spotted traveling near the Long Beach Harbor.

Contacted by radio, Rodriguez claimed that he had been told to take the yacht to former Mexican president Vicente Fox, Starbird said, but that rock legend Gene Simmons - aboard a nuclear submarine - ordered him to turn back when he reached San Onofre.

When officers tried to intercept the yacht, Rodriquez attempted to ram a Long Beach police boat, Pratt said. Police eventually took him into custody with assistance from the Coast Guard, Pratt said.

The Stimulus is now at a Marina del Rey shipyard to repair more than $100,000 damages that were caused when a boat chain wrapped around the props.

Meanwhile, Brewer is still trying to wrap his head around the caper in normally tranquil Newport Harbor.

"It's the craziest thing that has ever happened down here," he said.

 

[smurphny]

Another article.

Man accused of stealing $3 million yacht ? and then it gets interesting - The Orange County Register

NEWPORT BEACH - It's a sea-chanty question that's puzzled many a salty pirate.

Contacted by radio, Rodriguez claimed that he had been told to take the yacht to former Mexican president Vicente Fox, Starbird said, but that rock legend Gene Simmons - aboard a nuclear submarine - ordered him to turn back when he reached San Onofre.

I hate it when they do that.

 

[nighthawk]

You know, if I turned back to port every time Gene Simmons told me to, I'd never get anywhere fun!
:laugher

 

[Tadw]

Nuclear Sub ! wow I know Geno is well off but...just imagine the overhead!

 

[oldlaxer1]

You know, if I turned back to port every time Gene Simmons told me to, I'd never get anywhere fun!
:laugher

Just my luck, I get Richard Simmons telling me to turn back....