Man is Arrested for Stealing a Rouses Point Yacht and was Caught Joyriding for Vermont

Photo by Andrew Neel from Pexels

In Rouses Point, New York, a man is accused of stealing a million-dollar yacht. The claim is that he was operating it across Lake Champlain to take it to Burton Island, Vermont.

You see, he stole the boat last week on Tuesday from the Safe Harbor Gaines Marina in Rouses Point. The boat in question is a 48-foot-tall Jeanneau Prestige 500.

The map below will show you where the marina is located:

It is called "Volans" and is valued at a whopping $1.2 million in Canadian dollars.

The thief in question is Robert Morris of Jericho, Vermont. He is 56-years-old. He is facing felony charges over the attempted theft.

You can watch the video below to learn more:

The person who owns the yacht belongs to a resident from Montreal, Canada. His name is Ron McCarthy. He keeps his boat at a slip at the Safe Harbor Gaines Marina (which is his preference).

From the sounds of it, it's not very common for people to be brave enough to steal literal boats. Plus, Rouses Point sounds like a pretty safe place to be in (outside of this situation).

One can presume that the locals were shocked at the news.

For now, Robert Morris is being held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton, Vermont. He has already had a court arraignment some days ago.

You can see a map of where this facility is located:

Throughout the hearing, Robert Morris was reportedly very vocal.

Robert claims that he was just simply water testing the boat after he reportedly made some mechanical fixes. He also claimed that he had permission to operate it from the owner, and was planning to return the boat to Ron McCarthy (who was all the way in Montreal, Canada).

Of course, Ron denied those claims. Plus, Robert was heading southbound instead of northbound if he was really planning to take it to Canada.

At the end of his virtual meeting, Robert made some inappropriate hand gestures.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

To summarize, Robert is facing felony charges for grand larceny, while the police continue their investigation. The judge, Deputy State’s Attorney Deb Celis, has plans to extradite Robert to New York to face charges.

According to Deb Celis, Robert had this boat in his possession for at least 2 days before being caught.

Deb Celis reportedly said:

“He drove the boat from Rouses Point, New York, to Burton Island, Vermont, so he crossed state lines."

The Vermont State Police were also involved in the situation since he had attempted to set sail for Vermont. Specifically, the boat was first found by members of the U.S. Border Patrol who were patrolling Lake Champlain by helicopter.

He was then arrested by the St. Albans Police Department on Burton Island.

According to an affidavit from the authorities, the police had found five sets of boat keys on the vessel. Meanwhile, the marina did report missing all those keys.

Curiously, Robert has a really long rap sheet that spans multiple states. Apparently, he is also a wanted fugitive in New Hampshire.

Deb Celis requested a $25,000 bond and deemed Robert a major flight risk. According to her:

“He [Robert] has little to no contacts with the state of Vermont. He advised police that he was homeless and had not been in the area for 20 years."

Robert's defense attorney claims that Robert was staying at his uncle's house in Alburgh and even asked for a competency exam, which the judge granted.

However, back in Rouses Point, New York, many community members are still trying to make sense of the situation. A major source of income is from the marina, so this situation is quite a big deal. For those in Rouses Point, we can only hope that no other luxury thefts occur.

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