(KOIN) — A 42-year-old man from Washington state has been accused of stealing an 80-foot, $8 million commercial fishing boat with the crew still on board.
The suspect, identified as Joshua Stedman of Aberdeen, boarded the Jamie Marie around 9 a.m. on Feb. 8 and temporarily convinced the crew that he was the boat’s new captain, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Police said.
“A subject had boarded the vessel, woke the crew and advised them they needed to get underway,” the department explained on social media. “The newer crew did not know the captain, but didn’t argue, thinking he was an alternate operator, or someone sent by the real captain. He surely acted the part as he knew how to start and operate the large vessel.”
The crew allegedly became suspicious of Stedman’s behavior, especially after he mentioned meeting up with a “Chinese mothership” while maneuvering the ship into the harbor, officers said. The crew then called the boat’s actual captain from the bridge, at which point they determined they were on a stolen vessel.
The WDFW Police, as well as the Westport Police Department, responded to the scene. Stedman returned the boat to the harbor at about 9:30 a.m., and was arrested. Police said he was in possession of $4,000 in cash and a “large quantity of individually weighed and packaged marijuana” when he was taken into custody.
Police also learned that Stedman allegedly attempted to steal a different boat before the Jamie Marie, but was impeded by its suspicious crew.
“As the investigation played out, it was learned the same subject boarded another large vessel in the early morning hours and managed to start the main engines and was attempting to rally the crew for a trip to sea,” WDFW Police said. “They ran him off the boat but did not report the activity until the current theft was playing out and the information was circling Westport.”
Stedman was booked into the Gray Harbor County Jail, according to Westport Police. He was charged with theft, vehicle prowling, possession of stolen property and illegal drug possession.
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