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Man Accused Of Stealing Sailboat And Getting It Stuck Under Tower Bridge

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - It's a splash and dash. A man is under arrest, accused of boosting a large sailboat on the Sacramento River.

Ian Kelley, who saw most of the situation unfold from his jet ski Monday night, couldn't believe it.

"I was just thinking 'that this isn't right.' This thing up against our iconic bridge…something has to be done," Kelley said.

Kelley told CBS13 that he helped free the sailboat from the bridge.

"It's just something that we could maybe use -- and maybe one day just sell it and make some money on it," said the boat's owner, Jack Holsey.

Holsey said his son Craig did most of the work on the boat before he was paralyzed in a car accident several months ago.

"We never ever planned in 100 years, you know, all of this would come to past," Holsey said.

Holsey told he hadn't heard about what happened on Monday night but his son was.

Craig didn't want to speak on camera given his current state, but he told CBS13 that friends who check on the boat saw the suspect trying to untie it from the dock and they raced to tie it back up.

But, eventually, the boat was in the water.

"You let something sit like that and you're just kind of holding your hand out there to get it knocked off. We were never planning on some of the stuff that's happened. So, it's turned into quite a deal," Holsey said.

Sacramento Police said that Anthony Abernathy was arrested on theft-related charges in this incident.

The department also told CBS13 that there was another report last Saturday, May 8 with Abernathy and the boat.

But there wasn't enough evidence to show there was a crime at the time.

Two encounters within days of each other, with the same boat. It's something beyond bold for some.

"I'm not sure bold is the word for it, you know? He bought himself a trip to jail," Kelley said.

Holsey's son hopes to get down to the boat soon to move it to a different location.

 

 

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