A Russian male who was provided asylum in the U.S. led authorities in Florida on a remarkable marine chase for over an hour, after taking a high-end private yacht worth $2.5 million.
Nikolai Vilkov, who is 29 and has a North Carolina address, boarded the 68-foot vessel on Monday afternoon, before trying the bold escape from the marina.
Officers from Martin County ground and marine systems were required to ram the luxury yacht into close-by mangroves in order to ground it. Vilkov declined to give up when deputies boarded the vessel, and tear gas was utilized to require him to come out.
He was consequently charged with grand theft of an automobile, exacerbated getting away and avoiding, in addition to withstanding arrest without violence.
Regardless of having had previous interactions with police, Vilkov declared he did not speak English, leading to a Russian interpreter being brought by the Department of Homeland Security to help with the examination.
According to authorities, Vilkov was likewise presumed of taking a smaller sized boat in Jupiter, about 3 miles from where he was gotten. Speaking at an interview on Tuesday, Martin County Constable John Budensiek explained the event as “strange.”.
Budensiek informed press reporters that Vilkov had actually reached the Lucky Shuck dining establishment in Jupiter simply after 1 a.m. on Monday, and parked his Tesla in a valet location.
Security video then revealed him roaming in the location behind other close-by dining establishments, where numerous boats are docked and saved. Soon after 2 a.m. a TowBoat United States boat’s GPS came online, stating it was moving, heading north, then east before ending up being stuck on a sandbar near the Jupiter Inlet.
Vilkov was satisfied by officers soon after 3. a.m however was not linked to the theft of the towboat.
After making his method to the Blowing Rocks Marina he apparently invested a night sleeping on a boat that was docked there, even utilizing a towel hanging within– though his specific location were not verified.
Nevertheless, prior to 4 p.m., authorities were notified by the dockmaster that the luxury yacht had actually been taken. The resulting chase, which included Martin County Constable’s Workplace, Jupiter Island authorities and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Preservation Commission lasted for about an hour and a half.
Budensiek stated that the luxury yacht had actually been grounded after “numerous smaller sized boats powering greatly versus the side of the taken boat, pressing it into the mangroves.”.
” We could not simply let that vessel careen through our county and threaten individuals,” he stated, including that the luxury yacht had actually sustained a “substantial quantity” of damage in the event.
A theory for the intention is that the vessel was being relocated to the Bahamas for smuggling functions, however this has actually not yet been validated.
The constable included that it was uncertain how Vilkov made it to Florida, however that he had actually shown up in Mexico in 2022, and been approved asylum through the Mexico-Texas border that December.
” He has an ICE detainer on him, and the next time he takes a vessel … it’ll be back in Russia, not here in the United States,” Budensiek stated. “When he serves his time here, he’ll be deported out of our nation.”.
Vilkov is presently being held without bond at the Martin County prison.