Two jailed in boat-theft-related cases

[Electronics Guru]

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Two men were jailed in separate boat-related thefts in the Keys this week -- including one man who was trying to get to Cuba.

In that case, Miguel Gutierrez, 31, of Hialeah is charged with grand theft. The U.S. Coast Guard found him adrift in the vessel on Tuesday.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office says the crew aboard the Coast Guard cutter Tampa reported finding the fishing vessel about 40 miles from Cuba. Guiterrez was taken back to the Keys, where he reportedly told Deputy David Fernandez that he was planning to return to Cuba permanently when he ran out of gas.

The owner of the boat, which he uses to fish for blue crab, says the vessel was docked on Stock Island. He said Gutierrez had worked for him for a couple of weeks but didn't have permission to take the boat.

Tavernier theft

On Wednesday, a Key West man was charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools and theft for trying to break into a Key Largo boat storage yard.

The Sheriff's Office says someone who lives near the yard, at mile marker 93.5, called in around 1 a.m. to report a white van parked near the Unique Marine lot and a man jumping over the fence onto the property.

When Deputy Edgar Piniero arrived, he found Osvaldo Hidalgo, 27, inside the lot carrying the cover from a boat motor over to the fence. Deputies say he watched as Hidalgo then climbed over and carried the cover to the van. At that point, Hidalgo was arrested.

And as Piniero was dealing with the suspect, he saw a second man inside the lot but he ran away, fleeing toward the Hammer Point Subdivision on the other side of the lot. A search of the area didn't turn him up.

After Hidalgo was in custody, investigators discovered the covers of two boat motors had been removed; each one is valued around $1,000. The 37-foot vessel they'd been taken from belongs to a Boca Raton man.

And inside the van, deputies say they found bolt cutters and prying tools.