Lantana Police are investigating a string of break-ins at several marinas in Lantana.
Wednesday morning, Captain John Schulz noticed something was wrong on his boat at the Palm Beach Yacht Center.
“The front hatch was open,” Schulz said.
On the surveillance footage it shoed two kids jumping on his boat around 12:30 a.m.
“They got on the boat and then spun the hatch here,” Schulz said.
Before they could steal anything, a neighbor sprung into action.
“He said he saw some kids on the boat and he shined his flashlight on them and scared them away,” Schulz said.
But the kids weren’t done. They simply went on the Sportsman Park Marina.
Surveillance footage there shows three kids, taking things off boats.
“They jumped up on the boat here, cause the footprints started here, all the way up here,” said Captain Geno Pratt.
Pratt’s charter fishing boat was also broken into, also through the hatch.
“Everything has an alarm, aside from the hatch,” Pratt said. “But that will change immediately.”
The hatches on both boats were locked but the kids apparently knew how to pry them open.
“I didn’t even knew you could do that,” Schulz said.
Pratt said all that’s left of his $3,800 fishing reel was the cover.
“It’s going to take a lot of charters to recoup from that,” Pratt said.
Pratt’s son posted the video and a closeup of the kids on social media and was flooded with responses.
“It all happened pretty quick,” Zane Pratt said. “I’d say by noon the next day we had everybody’s name.”
Lantana Police investigators say there were several kids and they were at the marina until around 5 a.m.
“What are they doing out that time of night?” Schulz said.
Officials with the Palm Beach Yacht Center said over the last few weeks a group of kids stole smaller items like coolers. Now police are investigating if those are the same kids and which kid did what.
Police said they could face felony charges.
Schulz and Pratt certainly hope there will be some consequences.
“Something needs to be done,” Pratt said.
