Stolen vessel recovered; Miami man arrested

Key Largo – A custom made boat, stolen from a Key Largo campground in September was recovered in Miami. The Miami man who stole it is in jail.

Surveillance tape from Calusa Campground shows the 2007 30 foot custom made Concept vessel being towed away August 28, 2011  by a white Cadillac SUV. The vessel’s value, including the trailer and two 350 HP Mercury engines, is $137,000.00. The owner discovered the theft several days later; he told Detective Robert Dosh no one had permission to take it and he wanted to press charges.

On March 21^st of this year, the owner was contacted by the company that made the boat for him. The company owner said he’d received a phone call from someone who was thinking about buying the boat. The potential buyer said he was suspicious because the person selling it was only asking $20,000.00 for it. He told the company owner he suspected the boat was stolen.

The company owner did some checking and discovered the boat in question – which he was able to specifically identify from his records – was indeed reported stolen. He called the boat’s owner and told him he knew where the boat was. The boat owner called Detective Dosh to report the location of the boat.

Detective Dosh enlisted the aid of Miami-Dade detectives who went to the residence where the boat was last seen. The man who lived there said his nephew had parked the boat there, but had removed it a couple of days before. He gave detectives the nephew’s contact information. He also confirmed his nephew drives a white Cadillac SUV, and identified the vehicle from a photograph.

When detectives contacted the nephew – 22 year old Yadiel Valera – he told them someone had given him the boat. He said he didn’t know the person’s name and couldn’t tell detectives where the boat was located; when pressed for more information, he stopped communicating with them.

On March 30^th, the boat, motors and trailer were found abandoned in Miami-Dade County. A warrant was obtained for the arrest of Valera for grand theft.  He was arrested today and booked into the Miami-Dade County jail.