The fish that got away in Cortez was carried out of a walk-in freezer.
The Manatee County Sheriffs’ Office reported $1,100 worth of stone crab claws and grouper was stolen from the A. P. Bell Fish Co., 4539 124th St. W., Cortez, and sold to a nearby restaurant. The thief even had the restaurant fix him a plate of the ill-begotten goods.
According to the MCSO report, a Star Fish Company Market and Restaurant employee told officers he watched a man pass him on the front dock carrying a large bag of stone crab claws.
The employee told officers he thought the size of the bag the man was carrying was odd because stone crab claws are expensive. According to the report, the employee went into the market and asked the clerk if he had sold a large bag of claws,
The clerk said “no” and both employees walked out the market door and watched the man get into the passenger seat of a silver SUV.
A surveillance camera caught the apparent theft. A man can be seen walking into the freezer empty-handed and exiting with large bags, the report stated.
Karen Bell, owner of AP Bell Fish Co. and Starfish Company Market and Restaurant, identified the man in the security camera footage as Robert Lippert, the report stated.
“On occasion we have things disappear, but not in that quantity or that brazen,” Bell said.
Bell told officers she has known Lippert for more than five years, and that she has had similar experiences with him.
Bell said one such incident reported to her by a fish house foreman involved Lippert sneaking into the walk-in freezer overnight as fishers were packing baitfish at the dock. The foreman followed him into the freezer to find Lippert shoving a snapper into his pants.
“It was just gross. We had to throw the fish away,” Bell said.
Law enforcement was not involved in that incident, Bell said.
According to the report on the XX theft, Lippert sold the seafood to the Cortez Clam Factory, 10104 Cortez Road W. The report stated Lippert paused at the Clam Factory to eat some of the seafood, prepared by the restaurant’s cooks.
Lippert was later arrested at his home. He is facing a felony burglary charge and a charge for dealing in stolen property.
Lippert’s arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.