BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Deputies apprehended two men Wednesday night near Cocoa as they hauled a stolen boat being tracked by its owner in Nevada.
Maykel Calafet Calderon, 28, and Manuel I. Telles, 38, both Cuban natives living in Miami, were arrested on charges of grand theft of the $290,000 vessel and the $15,000 pickup towing it. They also face counts of resisting arrest after deputies said they bailed from the pickup and ran into the woods near Cocoa.
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According to the Brevard County Sheriff?s Office, the authorities received a called from a man in Nevada who said his Yellowfin motorboat was stolen around 9:30 p.m. from Atlantic Beach, near Jacksonville.
The 32-foot watercraft named ?Whiskey Bent? was equipped with a tracking device, which showed it heading southbound on Interstate 95. It was being towed by a ford F-250 extended cab pickup, also reportedly stolen. The owner communicated with dispatchers as troopers and deputies tried to find the boat, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.
A sheriff?s helicopter spotted the pickup at about 10:30 p.m. as it exited the interstate at State Road 524. Video from the helicopter shows the pickup parking near an abandoned gas and two men fleeing into nearby woods.
About 20 minutes after the helicopter picked up the vehicle, deputies and police dogs located and handcuffed the men.
Calderon and Telles were held Thursday at the Brevard County Detention Center in lieu of a $3,500 bond.
After he was read his rights, Telles told deputies that he and Calderon had left Miami on Wednesday morning and had driven northward to steal the boat, according to an arrest affidavit.