Was an early morning in Two Harbors,
Catalina Is. Cali., and the wife and I tied up to the dingy
dock to
head up for breakfast at the Reef bar.
As we walked to the
ramp leading up to the pier, a nice couple (Steve and Kim) sitting in a
Avon with a
Honda on the back asked us if "we had seen anyone in a dingy like this [the one they are sitting in belonging to a friend]?" "Ours was stolen last night" they added.
"Wish we could help you guys, but no we haven't seen it" we mentioned. The dingy pictured is $6 to 8 grand, sometimes more and it was the first day of their
vacation,, the dingy brand new.
They reported the theft to the Harbor Master and the Sheriffs office in Two Harbors.
Alice and I had coffee, went for a hike to
Catalina Harbor on the other side of the Island and returned back to the Reef bar about 2 hours later.
At the bar the bartender told us a boater had spotted a high end dingy mid-channel and towed it in and turned into the Harbor Masters office.
Turns out it was the stolen dingy. The thieves used it to get back to their sailboat after the
water taxi was secured for the night,,, then set it adrift. Out to sea with the tide it went.
What is cool about the whole deal is the thieves all left their wallets in the dingy and unbeknownst to them until the next day,,,, the wallets drifted off with the dingy.
The sheriff came down to the pier identify the dingy and discovered the wallets. A quick ID was run on boats registered in the harbor. Within a few minutes the thieves were hooked up and sitting in the Sub station jail.
The
Avalon sheriffs
boat would be picking them up to be transferred to Los Angeles County Jail that afternoon.
The dingy /
tender owner and his wife were notified and glad to have their
inflatable back.
One thief owned a nice sailboat. The two thief companions were on leave from the Army.
The dingy owners, Steve and Kim decided to not press charges because the Army guys would be in super deep trouble, and asked the Sheriff to let the thieves go.
The sheriff explained to the thieves what a huge break they got,, and reluctantly set them free and the thieves made their way to the bar in
route to board their sailboat and go home.
The thief owner of the
sail boat walked up to the bar and asked me if "I was Steve Larson?"
"If I was I'd have a gun" I replied,, the
head thief turned pale,, and the 3 thieves quickly exited, headed to the
water taxi,, and vanished.
You make the call, would you have let the thieves off the hook and not press charges like Steve and Kim did?
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