Authorities are searching for the owner of a damaged boat that washed up on the shore at La Jolla Shores. According to San Diego lifeguards, the Coast Guard received a distress call about a boat with a broken mast that had drifted into the surf at La Jolla Shores around 2 a.m. on April 28.
Lt. Rick Strobel said that when lifeguards responded, they found a man in charge of the boat, but he claimed he wasn’t the owner. The man told them that the boat belonged to his friend, and he was moving it from Oceanside to San Diego Bay. However, he didn’t provide his friend’s name. Once the actual owner is identified, Strobel mentioned, the authorities will pursue reimbursement for the costs incurred to remove the boat, which are estimated to be around $5,000.
The man in charge of the boat didn’t make any attempt to salvage it, Strobel said, so the boat was considered abandoned and removed later that morning. During the removal, lifeguards had to drain the fuel to prevent environmental contamination and relocate the boat away from beachgoers. The city’s mechanized beach equipment team moved the boat and eventually hauled it away.
Strobel noted that San Diego has a recurring problem with abandoned boats. Fortunately, the city has $150,000 in grant funding from California’s State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways’ Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange Program to help cover the costs of removing abandoned boats.
Here’s the police blotter for the same period:
April 17
– Vehicle break-in/theft: 700 block of Agate Street, 3:30 a.m.
April 21
– Vandalism: 200 block of Marine Street, 8 p.m.
April 24
– Felony grand theft: 700 block of Sapphire Street, 6:45 a.m.
April 25
– Felony vehicle theft: 5700 block of Waverly Avenue, 8:30 a.m.
April 27
– Felony grand theft: 2500 block of Torrey Pines Road, 3 p.m.
– Vehicle break-in/theft: 8600 block of La Jolla Scenic Drive North, 5 p.m.
– Use or being under the influence of a controlled substance: Morning Way at Villa La Jolla Drive, 5:01 p.m.
– Felony vandalism: 800 block of Midway Street, 9:24 p.m.
April 28
– Felony shoplifting: 8800 block of Villa La Jolla Drive, 11:26 a.m.
– Residential burglary: 2300 block of Torrey Pines Road, noon.
– Felony vandalism: 5800 block of Bucknell Avenue, 12:45 p.m.
– Felony shoplifting: 8600 block of Villa La Jolla Drive, 1:54 p.m.
– Felony vehicle theft: 9500 block of La Jolla Shores Drive, 3 p.m.
– Commercial burglary: 1000 block of Torrey Pines Road, 3:30 p.m.
– Felony vandalism: 7200 block of Olivetas Avenue, 5 p.m.
– Driving under the influence (alcohol): 7300 block of Draper Avenue, 6:32 p.m.
– Residential burglary: 1100 block of Nautilus Street, 11:35 p.m.
– Shoplifting: 2200 block of Torrey Pines Lane, 11:46 p.m.
April 29
– Petty theft: 7500 block of Eads Avenue, 6 p.m.
– Disorderly conduct (alcohol): 700 block of Agate Street, 10:22 p.m.
May 1
– Driving under the influence (alcohol and/or drugs): 1300 block of West Muirlands Drive, 12:32 a.m.
– Vandalism: 3100 block of Morning Way, 5:50 p.m.
May 2
– Robbery (weapon used): Villa La Jolla Drive at Villa Norte, 12:03 a.m.
– Felony grand theft: 8800 block of Villa La Jolla Drive, 2:30 p.m.
May 3
– Shoplifting: 8800 block of Villa La Jolla Drive, 10:18 a.m.
