Man arrested in Irma-related PWC theft

A Marathon man who stole a personal watercraft in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma was arrested 30th January.

Matthew Richard Sanchez, 21, was charged with grand theft.

The case began on Dec. 8 when Middle Keys Road Patrol Deputies Hernan Marin and Vincent Torres responded to James Terrace street after receiving a tip that a man was overheard stating he stole a personal watercraft. The deputies did not find the suspect, later identified as Sanchez, but they did find two personal watercraft parked on the property with Florida Registration numbers that indicated the vessels were not stolen.

After the deputies left, dispatchers found an incident report from Oct. 3 where an owner called to report one personal watercraft and trailer stolen from the Niles Channel Bridge between Sept. 15 and 17, which turned out to be one of the two personal watercraft from the earlier report . The woman reported she and her husband last saw their personal watercraft damaged in a ravine along with its trailer, near the Niles Channel Bridge on Sept. 15 after the storm. She and her husband were unable to retrieve the personal watercraft at that time and when they returned on Sept. 17 the vessel was gone.

On Dec. 10, when deputies returned to James Terrace, they found the personal watercraft and trailer in question gone. They were again unsuccessful in locating Sanchez.

The next day, Detective Amanda Coleman from the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Unit spoke to the owners. They reported the personal watercraft and trailer were found that same day parked in front of an unrelated business in roughly the same condition as they last saw it.

Coleman also spoke to a man who had  been working with Sanchez who he told her Sanchez attempted to put the personal watercraft on his property and he told Sanchez he could not. The man told Coleman that he and Sanchez found the registration for the vessel in one of its compartments and that he instructed Sanchez to go to the owners’ house and alert them. The man said he heard nothing more about the personal watercraft until a mutual friend mentioned it had to be moved in order to keep Sanchez out of trouble. He added that he never contacted anyone in law enforcement regarding permission to remove the personal watercraft.

A warrant was issued for Sanchez arrest given that he admitted to removing the personal watercraft and was aware of the owners’ location and never contacted them.

Sanchez was booked into the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island.

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