The city of Oakland, California, which has endured increased rates of violent crime and property theft over the past three years, now has thieves operating small boats to steal vessels from the marina and sell off parts, a phenomenon local officials are calling piracy.
"It's every week. Every week somebody's missing something," Emmanuel Ievolella, a resident of the marina, said in an interview with CBS San Francisco. “From their boats or either their dinghies or their outboard motors or from their cars.”
According to local news outlets, the thieves are piloting small boats under the cover of night to reach larger vessels, board them, and move them elsewhere.
Steven Young, owner of a forty-foot boat normally docked in an Oakland marina, also told CBS San Francisco that his yacht was stolen and found a few days later with people aboard. Young called the police, who said that they could not take action without a police report. Young said the police never came and that the boat was only found when the insurance company called him.
But Young said his boat was destroyed by the time the vehicle was recovered. "What they did to the boat was just unbelievable," he said. “Normally, you'd expect them to take the dinghy and your liquor and stuff like that. But they took the fishing poles. They took the fighting chairs; they took the barbecue pits. And everything they didn't take, they destroyed.”
The thieves also stole the GPS system, three handguns, and ammunition, leaving behind hypodermic needles and destroying the interior.
Young’s boat was the third attacked in the Bay Area in one week. Robberies have increased by 20% since last year, according to statistics from the Oakland Police Department.
"A few days later, someone in this marina had to defend themselves with guns against the pirates. And that's where it is right now," said Michael West, another resident interviewed by CBS San Francisco. "Everybody here has a gun or knife or a sword or a stick or something, you know, to protect themselves.”
Former Oakland Marina harbormaster Brock DeLappe told NBC San Francisco that the crimes are acts of piracy. “Over the last couple of months it’s become extremely severe, boats are being stolen almost on a nightly basis,” DeLappe said. “Residents in marinas are scared, they’re talking about forming groups, they’re arming themselves. Someone’s going to get hurt if this is not taken seriously by authorities.”
The city of Oakland only has one officer who knows how to operate patrol boats to protect the waters. "Fighting crime out here on the water is tough, as we only have one full-time marine officer, and that's myself," said Officer Kaleo Albino.
The pirate phenomenon comes after the Oakland NAACP called on the city to reverse efforts to “defund the police” due to rising crime rates. “Murders, shootings, violent armed robberies, home invasions, car break-ins, sideshows, and highway shootouts have become a pervasive fixture of life in Oakland,” NAACP President Cynthia Adams said in a letter to the city.
