Lower motor units of four boats disappeared from boats stored on lifts in the 100 block of 12th Street South the last week in July.
The boat lifts were on a common dock extending into Sarasota Bay.
“Somebody came up off the bay and took the units,” Bradenton Beach Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz said.
“We’re almost positive that’s the way it happened. Someone likely came up on a boat quietly, unscrewed the bolts and they dropped off.”
One of the boat owners, Rick Pecora, said the adjacent condominium parking areas were undergoing work when the motors went missing.
“Someone could have come on a boat late at night and saw a condo with no cars around it and decided it looks like an easy target,” Pecora said.
“Whether it made us more susceptible, I don’t know,” he added.
A man paddling a green kayak at sunset July 29 observed the boat units were missing and told a condo resident, who reported the thefts, Pecora said.
He valued the units between $2,500 and $5,000 each, saying it depended on the brand and replacement costs.
Talking to an insurance adjuster, Pecora learned the unit is re-sellable.
“The adjuster said, ‘You’ll never find them. They’re probably in a box on their way up to somewhere in Europe.’”
Pecora complimented BBPD for its professional response, including BBPD Officers Josh Betts and Tom Ferrara and Chief Sam Speciale.
Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to call BBPD at 941-778-4766 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.
— Kathy Prucnell