A 28-year-old Bradenton man was arrested Sept. 4 after an alleged attempt to steal a motorboat that, weighed down by a second anchor, ran aground in the Gulf of Mexico.
Boat owner Paul Koelkebeck and friends were dining at the Gulf Drive Cafe, 900 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach, and witnessed the attempted theft by Zachary Shattuck, according to a Bradenton Beach police report.
Shattuck told arresting officers he had not slept in days and had no idea why he tried to steal the boat.
The boaters had double-anchored the vessel just before going ashore when the owner saw a man “driving away with his boat,” according to the report.
The owner and friends ran across the beach, calling to the man, who was not aware of the second anchor.
Shattuck, who told police he didn’t know how to operate the boat, drove close enough to the shoreline that the owner jumped aboard.
That’s when Shattuck jumped off and was surrounded by a gathering crowd that kept him at the scene until police arrived.
Police obtained a copy of a video from a witness to the incident.
Shattuck was released from custody Sept. 7 and will be arraigned Oct. 1 at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton for grand theft of a motor vessel, a second-degree felony. If convicted, Shattuck could face up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
— Amy V.T. Moriarty