Mini-Mushin Update

[Billfish715]

We were all following the mystery of the disappearance and recovery of the Mini-Mushin. What's up with the boat now and what's up with the identification and prosecution of the perps?

[Captain Rich]

Allen is now chasing the kid who stole his lawn gnome ! :D Ok, I'm sorry, Allen but it was too easy.... Now give everybody the update!

[Mushin Sportfishing]

Billfish and others, thanks for asking! I did post an update in the other (original) thread that the boat/motor/trailer were recovered. I’m still limited with what I can disclose, since the case is being prosecuted. The motor was found in early March. I found it on EBay – and traced it to a marine store in South Jersey. I went there myself the next morning, and found it on the showroom floor – with an exact match on the serial number. After calling local police, the store was compelled to release the stolen motor back to me. I can’t get into what the store owner said, but the store did cooperate with the investigation and produced very helpful surveillance video of the suspect who brought in the stolen motor, his vehicle info, his name, and phone number. Shortly after, Hamilton PD (where the boat/motor/trailer were originally stolen) viewed the video and recognized the suspect as someone they were already familiar with – and lived blocks from my office where the boat was stolen! Police met with him, but he did not want to save himself by cooperating and disclosing the location of the then still-missing boat/trailer (there was strong indication that the guy who sold the motor would have known where boat/trailer were at). After some more time, and with no help from the suspect, another South Jersey municipal police department found the boat and trailer in a shopping center parking lot. I picked up the boat, but found it badly damaged, with holes in the hull, my custom fiberglass console cut with a saw to extract marine electronics, bench seats broken, white spray paint over the boat name and State reg numbers defacing the mirror-finish AwlGrip, engine control boxed broken, engine wiring harnesses and steering cables broken or cut, and every possible electrical wire cut! I’m guessing it took him less than a few hours to destroy what took my daughter and I about 6 to 12 months to build to pristine condition in the original restoration project. While I was not happy with the damage, I am grateful and more fortunate than many to recover my stolen boat/motor/trailer. Insurance has made a reasonable settlement to cover the repairs and material losses. Hamilton PD caught up with the suspect about two weeks ago, and arrested/charged him with theft. And the municipal police in South Jersey where the stolen motor was found also charged him. He is out on bail now, but will be prosecuted in Superior Court. If convicted or pleading guilty, he stands to have a prison sentence. So while we never got to splash the Mini to fish for Spring flounder or chase the blues now invading the Manasquan, we are rebuilding the Mini – and hope to be back on the water soon. So with this nearly behind us, it’s time to move on, have a great season, and get on the water doing what we love to do. And thanks again to so many for reaching out to support us with this unfortunate event! Thanks, Capt. Alan and Nina

[SaltLife1980]

What a D-bag... Had to hack up the boat by cutting every thing.. Hope he goes down big time for this. If the cops already knew him it means this isnt his first time getting in trouble. Witch is a good thing because he wont get off on probation like most first time offenders get.

[Mikey topaz]

I wont mention any names what harbor but my buddy a well know fishermen and well respected by many had just been experiencing the same thing they stole 2 simrad units yamaha fuel management guage cut wire harness all up and stole ignition and trib tab switch as weel also tried stealing throttles some real losers out there unfortunately... Anyone sees or hears anything please let me know, curious if the guy that stole mini mushin same guy sounds like same stuff... Capt alan glad to hear about ur boat

[dakota560]

Capt. Alan and Nina not the perfect ending we all hoped for but as you said much better than most. At least the scum that stole it were caught and hopefully will serve significant time. I'm sure you and your daughter will do a great job restoring the boat again and now you have an added story to tell!

As I mentioned in the first thread on this, you should consider placing a GPS tracking unit somewhere discreet in the boat. Even in a hidden compartment you can build into the design while you're doing the restorations. I'm not sure if all units need to be charged from time to time, they may sell units with extended life. Either way, if lightening where God forbid ever to strike twice, you will have no problem recovering your boat hopefully before all the damage you sustained incurs. It's just like a Lojac system and I know people who have used them and they made a difference locating their boats after a theft. I don't sell them so that's not my reason for bringing it up, would hate to see you and Nina or anyone else for that matter go through the same experience you went through especially with the amount of time and effort you've invested in Mini-Mushin.

I for one would love to hear the final chapter of this story if you would be so kind. I know it's time to put this behind you but I hope the guys who did this end up with Bubba as their cell mate! Sharing the final chapter might also act as a deterrent for anyone reading this thread who might be considering doing something similar. Have a great season on the water with your daughter!

[Billfish715]

We are all relieved and happy to hear about your boat's return. The legwork and time you put into this recovery shows how much your boat means to you. The fact that you actually found the engine on ebay was a great feat of detective work. This should also be a wake up call to various marinas and boat dealers. Receiving stolen property is a crime as well. The word has to get out to the dealers that there will be consequences. If the dealers are cut out of the equation, the stealers will have fewer places to sell their stolen merchandise.

Thanks for keeping us posted. It is a story that kept us all involved with a fellow member's plight. I was mesmerized by your updates and hoped there would be a happy ending. If there are any tips you or anyone can share with us about how to keep our own boats safe, it would go a long way toward helping prevent something like this from happening more often. Unfortunately, some of the worst offenses happen on the water at marinas.

[Mushin Sportfishing]

Billfisher, yes, thanks again. And Dakota, definitely a good idea on tracking device. If I tell you how surreal of an experience it was to find my own motor on EBay! One of the five pictures on the EBay ad was a picture of the motor's forward cowling and mount (where the serial number plate is)...fortunately for ME, and unfortunately for the dealer and the thief (two different parties), I was able to ZOOM IN so much that I WAS ABLE TO READ THE SERIAL NUMBER on the EBay ad picture. That's when my jaw dropped. And given that this was 11 pm at night, I couldn't sleep all night waiting to go to the store next morning to recover it! I hate to think or be this way, but this has really made me view items on EBay, Craigslist, etc differently. Of course, most items on these sites are NOT stolen items, but I think if my stolen motor ended up there, what else on there is stolen? A kick-to-the-ding-ding part of this...The store owner where the motor was found "bought it" from the thief for $300 cash, and was re-selling it for $3395! Nice mark up! And I think my motor when new listed for about $7000 in 2013!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Congrats to you and Nina!! Glad to see Mini is back in the right hands and once restored will have even more meaning to you both.

[dakota560]

Store owner is either completely taking advantage of the guy selling it or knows it's hot. The later would be my guess. I would think there should be a valid title somewhere in that transaction so I hope in addition to the two guys who actually stole your property the store owner is brought up on criminal charges as well. As Billfish said, if there's no market they'll think twice about stealing it. Guy must have been a rocket scientist posting it on Ebay with the serial number showing.

[Billfish715]

This might be an issue for a legislator to look into. Are there any lurking on this board? There should be some kind of stipulation in some kind of law prohibiting the sale of major boating items containing a serial number without proper deeds of ownership. In this case, the store owner should have required proof of ownership, the same way as if a person were selling a car or a boat. The motor should have been registered with someone and that registration should have been presented by the seller to the buyer. It's not perfect but it's a start.

[Mushin Sportfishing]

I'm certainly no expert at this, but I do not believe outboard motors (at least of this size) get titled, although it was certainly helpful when I went to retrieve the stolen motor to produce my original receipt (bc I bought it new) with serial number. Maybe some law enforcement guys on this board would know better, but as I wen through this process it sounds like the PD entered the serial number, boat reg number, boat hull number, trailer reg number into some "system" so other PD's can recognize it. Too bad prospective engine buyers can't access this to see if it's "hot" or stolen. I can't help but to think the store owner who bought this for $300 from a thug knew it was stolen, but just didn't care. After all, who cuts the engine control wiring harnesses off of a 3-year old motor in perfect condition? You know, the wiring harnesses that cost $1700 to replace? Answer: someone in a BIG rush! I know I contacted my local Honda outboard dealer to report as stolen just in case Honda had some kind on info network if someone down the road tried to buy parts for motor with this serial number. And yet another kick-to-the-ding-ding, when I went to spend half of my day at Motor Vehicle Commission to replace the stolen trailer plate (yeah, the special kind of a-hole took that too), I think I nearly needed to produce a blood sample to replace my stolen trailer plate.