Alleged Florida boat thief “blacked out” after drinking and claims no memory of taking the vessel
Daytona Beach Police in Florida arrested Jonathan Race after finding his wallet on board. The 20-year-old said he remembers nothing of the incident
A 20-year-old alleged boat thief is claiming that he can remember nothing of the crime, after the boat was found grounded near Daytona Beach, Florida.
The 36-foot Northern Way, the Ethel Jeanne, was stolen from a nearby boat yard before it beached just north of Silver Beach.
It speeded onto the beach so quickly, that members of the public had to jump out of the way.
No one was injured, and beachgoers turned off the engine of the empty boat before calling the emergency services, which began searching for anyone who may have gone overboard.
At the same time, police officers were called to the boat yard to reports of a possible burglary.
CCTV footage was reviewed by the Florida police officers, and a man was seen entering the Ethel Jeanne and driving it out of the boat yard. However, the video footage was not good enough to positively identify a suspect.
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A search of the boat by Florida Fish and Wildlife Officers recovered a wallet – inside was Jonathan Race’s driving licence.
Paperwork also showed that the Northern Way vessel had been in the boat yard awaiting repairs.
Officers located Race, who said he had been on his own.
He said he last remembered “drinking a couple of four loko’s at the 7-11” directly across the street from the boat yard.
Race said he had “blacked out” because he had drunk too much and admitted that he was “drinking at the 7-11 and was rather drunk and was making stupid decisions”.
He later woke up on a beach in the Florida town and had started to walk home before being picked up by the police on Saturday (24 June) afternoon.