Multi-million Dollar Yacht Stolen in Jupiter, Florida

From the NY Post Russian national allegedly stole luxury yacht, leads Florida police on massive boat chase in attempt to flee to Bahamas

This is a crazy story from May, that I didn't see at the time.

A Russian national is accused of stealing a massive luxury yacht and leading authorities in Florida on a boat chase as police feared he planned on fleeing to the Bahamas for a “smuggling venture.”

Nikolai Vilkov, 29, was arrested on May 5 after the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies had to use smaller boats to pin the stolen 68-foot, two-million-dollar yacht against the shoreline in Jupiter Island, Sheriff John Budensiek said in a press conference.

Does this constitute piracy? This was not quite a cutting-out expedition, though that may describe the law-enforcement response.

Martin County, Florida stretches from the east shore of Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Coast. It includes Stuart, Jensen Beach, and Indiantown. It also includes the eastern end of the Okeechobee Waterway that connects Fort Myers to Stuart by way of the Caloosahatchee River, Lake Okeechobee, and the St. Lucie Canal.

And let's be clear, because people like to say illegal immigration enforcement is about race. Nikolai Vilkov is Russian. His wife and kids were in the US, but they flew back to Russia in 2024. My guess is that he fled Russia to avoid the draft for the war in Ukraine, but it is only a guess. After the situation with the yacht is sorted out, he will be shipped back to Russia, and then probably to the Ukrainian front.

Midwest Safety has a video, Large Police Response to Stolen $3,000,000 Yacht, that includes quite a bit of bodycam video from the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

Midwest Safety is one of a few channels on YouTube to which I am subscribed, that have police chases, and other bits of video of people making questionable choices.