Investigators See Increase In Thefts On Boats At Grand Lake

Thieves are stealing things from several yachts put up for the winter at Grand Lake. Investigators hope to find the people ripping out electronics.

Boat caretaker, Sam Walker, ran up to Grand Lake to check on property owned by his family and friends and got an unpleasant surprise.

"It's frustrating for everyone involved because it was such a big take. They got on multiple boats, took TVs, stereo equipment, and not just that, everyone's privacy was violated," Walker said.

Most owners store and winterize their boats at the docks; many have protective covers to keep boats out of the elements.

Often times boat owners and caretakers will check on their boats in the wintertime. This time around, when Walker opened up the canopy he saw something was out of place.

"At that point I started looking around I noticed that four of the speakers were gone and a subwoofer was missing, and in addition to that they opened cabinets and were looking for other things as well," he said.

Walker called Grand River Dam Authority Police and told them his friend's boat wasn't the only one hit by thieves.

"Every now and then you'll hear of one or two larcenies off of a dock, but anything of this magnitude is something we haven't seen in quite some time," said GRDA Police Chief, Brian Edwards.

Edwards said thieves broke into nearly a dozen boats at the Harbors View Marina near Afton.

Since fewer people are out at the lake this time of year, there's less of a chance of thieves being seen, and they take advantage of it.

“This is obviously a great place to come and this is pretty unusual for us and hopefully like I said earlier we'll bring this to a quick resolution," Edwards said.

Walker just hopes the thieves get caught and the boat owners get their stuff back.

"It's scary. It's just like someone breaking into your home," he said.

The boat owners are offering a $1,000 dollar reward for any information leading to the return of the items or to the arrest of the suspects.