A sailor robbery suspect terrorizing San Francisco Bay residents is now locked up in an inland prison.
Three maritime robbery suspects accused of breaking into businesses on the Embarcadero, San Francisco’s iconic east-facing waterfront, were arrested in the Oakland-Alameda Estuary on March 28, Oakland police announced.
It’s a big step forward for residents who live in houseboats and yachts on the 800-foot-wide waterway, which has endured nearly a year of thefts and confrontations with the so-called “East Bay Pirates.”
Starting last summer, vagrants believed to be from homeless camps in Oakland have been using small boats to attack large ships and steal valuables. The homeowners fought back and pursued the would-be thieves across San Francisco Bay.
The suspects, who have not been named, are said to have broken into the store on March 13th. The suspects were seen on surveillance video from the river.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant on the small boat, recovered stolen property and referred the case to the Alameda County District Attorney, according to Oakland police.
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to additional questions from Fox News Digital.
The Oakland and Alameda estuaries separate the two cities and are home to multiple marinas with approximately 3,000 boat launches, where communities live on houseboats and yachts.
Last summer and fall, maritime robbers used small stolen and derelict boats to raid large vessels and steal everything they could get their hands on.
They then either sunk the ship or dumped what was left of it miles away in Oakland Harbor or its shoreline.
Last year, several area residents shared personal anecdotes about the dire situation at several municipal meetings, including the executive meeting of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC).
“The[Oakland-Alameda]estuary’s open coastline is littered with sunken ships and derelict end-of-life vessels, and crime has risen to truly intolerable levels,” said former harbormaster Brock De.・Mr. Lappe stated this at the BCDC meeting in October.
“Multiple vessels have been stolen and looted. Victims had to personally confront the criminals to recover their property without police assistance. Is this an appropriate activity?”
One woman said she rescued a man whose yacht had drifted into the bay with no motor and no means of returning to shore after one of the “pirates” cut the row of boats during an argument.
Other residents told FOX News Digital they tracked the would-be thieves across the bay and shared tracking and surveillance footage.
Dan Hill, one of the leaders in the area who brought this issue to the forefront, joined more than a dozen others who banged tables at city meetings, wrote letters, and called officials to address the issue. He was one of the people.
Hill told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that each “attack” or theft can cost owners thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
He praised the arrests, saying over the weekend that the situation appeared to be “cleared up pretty well.”
For months, the issue was complicated by question marks over jurisdiction and declining law enforcement staffing levels, but Oakland and Alameda police worked together, along with the Coast Guard and the Estuary-based Coast Guard. We collaborated.
Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi said in an October 2023 interview that this is a “regional approach” to protecting waterways. fox news digital.
“It’s very difficult to draw lines on waterways,” Joshi said at the time. “We don’t have roadways or fences, so we have a common interest in dealing with this problem as a regional approach, just like we do with crime overall.”
Joshi’s comments were echoed by a Coast Guard spokesperson, who said, “This is a federal and state issue, and we are all working together to protect the best interests of everyone in the estuary.”
Regarding this particular case of suspected business robbery, Oakland Police said this incident and ongoing thefts in and around the Oakland Estuary are still under investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department’s Theft Unit at 510-238-3951.
