Florida Keys cops say a thief used a personal watercraft to commit a crime
.jpg "A Coral Gables, Florida, man is accused by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies of using a personal watercraft to steal fishing gear from a docked boat in the Keys.")
Call it the perfect Florida Keys crime. A suspect on a personal watercraft stealing fishing equipment from a docked boat.
Police say that’s what happened and arrested a Coral Gables man. He’s accused of using a waterbike to steal from a vessel.
Frank Alexander Pena, 22, was released from Monroe County jail Monday on $55,000 bond hours after being booked on burglary and grand theft charges. Reached by phone Tuesday night, Pena declined to comment on his arrest.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said that on Sept. 1, Pena used a personal watercraft to steal two fishing rods and reels worth $900 from a docked boat in the Upper Keys community of Tavernier.
“Security footage showed a man on a personal watercraft approach the boat and take the fishing rods,” said Adam Linhardt, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Personal watercraft are tandem vessels often called Jet Skis, the brand made by Kawasaki. Deputies received a tip that the personal watercraft seen in the footage was parked at a Key Largo residence. A man at that home said Pena was the person seen in the footage riding the vessel, Linhardt said.
That man said he and Pena got into an argument about stealing, and Pena moved back to Miami-Dade County, according to the sheriff’s office.
The man, who the sheriff’s office did not name, allowed deputies to search his home, where the rods were found, as was a cooler that was reported stolen in a separate burglary case, Linhardt said.
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
