Stolen Boat/Only in Florida
Posted: Aug 23rd, '06, 12:48
This is one of my customers. The boat owner, not the guy they found.
Man held after being found adrift in stolen boat
By Allyson Bird
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
When Earl Flippo saw his 50-foot Viking yacht Saturday, it was docked at the ritzy Twelve Oaks Marina in Palm Beach Gardens.
But when the 68-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man saw the yacht Monday, the Coast Guard had just plucked a naked, unconscious 26-year-old West Palm Beach man off of it as it floated 5 miles off the Fort Pierce coastline.
Travis Tomasello "was found passed out, in the nude, on the tuna tower of a drifting yacht," according to a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office report. A tuna tower is a crow's-nest used for spotting fish.
Tomasello also had a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun, which belonged to the boat's owner, and 18 methadone pills, another report said. He told sheriff's investigators a friend picked him up in the yacht Sunday in the Riviera Beach Inlet to "go party," the report continues.
Investigators placed Tomasello in handcuffs and a life vest.
The yacht's value is listed as $350,000 in a sheriff's office report. Flippo, the owner, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Tomasello remained at the St. Lucie County jail Tuesday on charges of first-degree grand theft, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. His bail was set at $70,000.
He has been arrested 30 times since 1995, state records show, primarily on drug charges.
Man held after being found adrift in stolen boat
By Allyson Bird
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
When Earl Flippo saw his 50-foot Viking yacht Saturday, it was docked at the ritzy Twelve Oaks Marina in Palm Beach Gardens.
But when the 68-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man saw the yacht Monday, the Coast Guard had just plucked a naked, unconscious 26-year-old West Palm Beach man off of it as it floated 5 miles off the Fort Pierce coastline.
Travis Tomasello "was found passed out, in the nude, on the tuna tower of a drifting yacht," according to a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office report. A tuna tower is a crow's-nest used for spotting fish.
Tomasello also had a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun, which belonged to the boat's owner, and 18 methadone pills, another report said. He told sheriff's investigators a friend picked him up in the yacht Sunday in the Riviera Beach Inlet to "go party," the report continues.
Investigators placed Tomasello in handcuffs and a life vest.
The yacht's value is listed as $350,000 in a sheriff's office report. Flippo, the owner, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Tomasello remained at the St. Lucie County jail Tuesday on charges of first-degree grand theft, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. His bail was set at $70,000.
He has been arrested 30 times since 1995, state records show, primarily on drug charges.