Judge Sets Million Dollar Bonds For Suspected Boat Thieves
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FORT MYERS (CBSMiami) – Three suspected boat thieves, who led the Coast Guard on a 20-hour, 345-mile chase through the Gulf of Mexico, won't be going anywhere soon. A Lee County judge has set their bail at more than $1 million each.
The 36-foot go-fast boat was stolen from a dock north of Fort Myers on Christmas Eve.
Lee County deputies said the men tried to ram a sheriff's boat and then fled at speeds of about 75 mph in the Gulf of Mexico.
As the boat approached international waters, the Coast Guard was called in. They used three aircraft, a small boat and the Coast Guard Cutter William Trump to finally stop the boat Christmas morning.
The suspects fled authorities for more than 345 miles and ended up about 65 miles off the northwest tip of Cuba, about 125 miles east of Cancun, Mexico.
"These folks taking part in this illicit activity had no intention of stopping and neither did we," a Coast Guard spokesman said.
The Coast Guard returned the stolen boat to Fort Myers Sunday. Also returned in handcuffs and life vests were the three alleged boat thieves identified as David Llanes Vazquez of Miami, Raul de la Vega Sauri of Homestead and Vidal Ramirez of Mexico.
A Lee County judge set bonds of $1.25 to $1.5 million for the men, saying they would be a flight risk of leaving the country.
The alleged boat thieves are charged with grand theft, burglary, assault and fleeing authorities.
Llanes Vasquez is also charged with reckless pollution for allegedly offloading eight barrels of fuel to make the boat lighter during the chase.
