Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) detectives are investigating a theft of items from an unlocked moored boat along the Island shoreline on the morning of Sept. 27.
A male suspect’s activities were captured on the vessel’s Nest video surveillance system at approximately 3:30 a.m. in the 9000 block of North Mercer Way, according to the MIPD. The suspect arrived and departed on a personal watercraft and stole approximately $850 worth of items, including noise cancelling headphones, a maritime flare kit and miscellaneous clothing and towels.
Later in the morning, after being alerted of activity on the boat and reviewing the Nest footage, the boat owner called the police at about 9:30 a.m.
MIPD Commander Jeff Magnan said that detectives don’t possess many leads thus far as they reach on and off the Island for critical information.
“We have put bulletins out with other agencies to see if we can get additional follow-up possibilities,” he said.
MIPD’s Marine Patrol Sergeant Chad Schumacher said there was a rash of paddle board thefts off local docks a few years ago, and at that juncture they dispatched their boats out on emphasis patrols. Magnan added that this is the first boat-related theft that MIPD has learned of in recent times, and he knows that other jurisdictions have been facing these types of thefts.
Schumacher said that in the future they may send boats back out in the middle of the night or in the early morning on patrols.
“We have capabilities on our vessels with FLIR (forward looking infrared) and radar, so we can detect items or objects that are moving out there in the lake that are probably hard to see. So we do have technology on our boats that can help us do interdiction type of work out there,” he said.
Magnan and Schumacher said that since residents have concluded their summer water activities, Marine Patrol reminds lakefront property owners to secure vessels, kayaks, paddle boards and canoes on docks or at their homes for the winter so they’re not easily stolen or blown off by storms.
When officers meet with residents at community events, Schumacher said they pass out stickers so owners can mark their vessels. They also discuss owners engraving their name or phone number inside vessels so they can be returned if they’re lost or stolen and then recovered.
Along with providing regular boat patrols of Lake Washington and the surrounding shoreline, the Marine Patrol unit enforces state and local laws, answers calls for assistance, gives emergency medical aid, suppresses boat and waterfront fires, investigates water-related accidents, and educates the public in safe boating practices, according to the city’s website.
For more information, visit: https://www.mercerisland.gov/police/page/marine-patrol
