Officers say the suspect stole the yacht and only stopped when they forced him to
- Deputies chased a stolen yacht through Hobe Sound, ending in a dramatic beach capture.
- The suspect, a man from Russia, allegedly stole the 65-foot vessel from a private dock.
- No injuries were reported, but the joyride caused damage to the yacht and local mangroves.
Some people unwind with coffee. Others, apparently, steal a yacht and try to outrun the police across Florida’s waterways. Mondays are rarely easy, but for one Russian national and a handful of Florida law enforcement agencies, this one came with a bit more horsepower and salt spray than usual.
Nikolai Vilkov is accused of making off with a 68-foot, $2 million yacht, then leading police on a slow-motion aquatic pursuit. The whole thing played out like a mashup of Grand Theft Auto, Miami Vice, and an improvised Arkansas-style PIT maneuver, only on water.
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The whole situation allegedly started around 1 p.m. local time, when witnesses reported seeing Vilkov around the vessel at Blowing Rocks Marina. Sometime between then and 4 p.m., he apparently boarded the yacht and set off. Once the dockmaster noticed the boat was gone, they reported it stolen.
According to WPBF, authorities pulled out all the stops after the yacht owner confirmed that it was stolen. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Fish & Wildlife, and the Jupiter Island Police Department all deployed boats in search of the yacht. Here’s the thing, though. Yachts aren’t exactly speedboats, so while it wasn’t long before authorities found it, stopping it was another matter.
“They locked onto the boat, realized that they were at extreme tactical disadvantage. We’re talking about a three-story yacht, 68-foot, and our vessels with one or two marine officers were not suited to safely take those individuals into custody,” Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said. Once the yacht was in a tight enough spot, the authorities swooped in together though, and physically pushed it to the shore.
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“They came up with a plan of beaching the suspect vessel, the stolen vessel, which they did, and that consisted of multiple boats, smaller boats, powering heavily against the side of the stolen vessel and pushing it into the mangroves where it was disabled,” Budensiek explainbed. From that point on, they deployed tear gas and apprehended Vilkov.
No One’s Sure Why He Did It
As for why Vilkov allegedly took the yacht in the first place, that remains unclear. Authorities have floated a few possibilities, including a trip to the Bahamas or involvement in a smuggling operation. What isn’t up for debate, though, is that the police can use the PIT maneuver, or at least something similar to it on the water, the same way they do on land. It just requires a few more boats and a healthy disregard for hull integrity.
