Newport Beach

Man Attempts to Steal $1M Yacht in Newport Beach

The man has since been arrested for DUI, grand theft, resisting police and felony vandalism.

A boat parade in Newport Beach took an unexpected turn Friday night when a man attempted to steal a million dollar yacht, and it was all caught on camera.

The owner of the boat, Dick Peckham, had plans of hosting a party for over 20 guests when he received a call notifying him that someone was erratically driving the boat and was being followed by police.

“Somebody’s obviously taken the boat,” he said.

Witness Justin Aveni caught the wild water ride on camera and allowed Peckham to hitch a ride on the boat to try to stop the thief.

“Anything could happen at that point,” Aveni said. “At that moment, its kinda a surreal thing when you look back at what could have happened.”

Newport Beach Police and Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies quickly took control of the situation and arrested the man who was later identified as 24-year-old Theodore Liko Wilson.

“Most of what he did was destructive,” Peckham said, “he had the doors tied together downstairs, he dumped five bottles of alcohol.”

Wilson has since been arrested for DUI, grand theft, resisting police and felony vandalism.

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