They Tried To Steal Jay Pilini's Spectre...

**qctracing** · 03-04-2009, 03:26 PM

I've seen this boat in person and it is gorgeous

Deputies say the three men came prepared for a very long - and very illicit - trip.
They're accused of sneaking behind Jay Pilini's home early Tuesday, lowering a 34-foot triple-engine Spectre boat into the canal, loading enough fuel and water to reach Mexico or Cuba, then quietly slipping away with the $225,000 craft in the early morning darkness.
Such high-end boats have been targeted up and down Florida's coast by professional thieves who use them for human trafficking and drug smuggling. But the red-and-silver Spectre center-console "go-fast" fishing boat named Wet Willys didn't even make it to the Gulf of Mexico.
A Pinellas sheriff's boat intercepted the three men creeping along the coast on a single engine, lights off.
That sparked a chase and manhunt that ended on land, where three suspects were cornered by deputies and their dogs as a sheriff's helicopter flew overhead.
Christobal Rodriguez-Contreras, 36, of Miami, Diomere Mendez, 32, of Hialeah, and Yordis Gutierrez, 31, of Naples were each arrested around 3 a.m. on one count of grand theft. They could face more charges, and are each being held on $50,000 bail.
The Sheriff's Office says the men are part of a ring of boat thieves, and that the arrests may be the break investigators need to crack open the criminal underworld behind these thefts.
"This might open the door really to see whether or not these individuals are involved in more local boat thefts," said sheriff's spokesman Marianne Pasha, "or if their activities extend across the state."
There were seven thefts of high-priced boats in south Pinellas last year, and at least two attempted thefts in Tierra Verde this year. The sheriff's boat that noticed the suspects was part of an operation targeting such thefts.
Pilini was storing the boat for a friend. After taking the boat from Pilini's home off 11th Street E, deputies say, the three men crashed it into a residential piling behind 416 Eighth Ave. and fled on foot.
Mendez and Gutierrez were tracked down by sheriff's dogs and found hiding under stairs at 437 Seventh Ave. Mendez was bitten in the arm by a sheriff's dog, the agency said, and another dog caught Rodriguez-Contreras next door.
Pilini said deputies told him they found Dramamine motion-sickness pills, water and 32 fuel-filled plastic containers on board. The Spectre's 257-gallon tank was also full.
That's enough fuel to reach Mexico or Cuba, or rendezvous with a bigger boat in international waters, which is the usual path of these stolen boats, according to Jacksonville private investigator Charles Meacham, who has tracked dozens of them from Florida to Mexico.
"When they go offshore, they get refueled, they get cans of fuel, they run to Cuba, pick up a (human) load, then go to Mexico," he said.
Mexican cartels have been known to use these boats to smuggle people out of Cuba and drugs into the United States, Meacham said, adding that federal authorities also are investigating the three men.
Pilini, 48, is the owner of Spectre Sportfish in Pinellas Park, a firm that designs and builds these custom, high-powered fishing boats and built the Spectre that was taken. He thinks the three men tried to steal anotherboat docked at his house. One of the men cut his hand on the dock during the theft, leaving a trail of blood.
They left blood on the Spectre and on his 43-foot Ocean Sportfish yacht, the Spectress. But they left that boat behind.

**qctracing** · 03-04-2009, 03:29 PM

the boat

**Frank Molé** · 03-04-2009, 03:47 PM

nice body

**1BadAction** · 03-04-2009, 03:47 PM

I'd be trying to steal it too...

**Frank Molé** · 03-04-2009, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by 1BadAction

I'd be trying to steal it too...

dont you mean HIT IT

**Action Dave** · 03-04-2009, 04:10 PM

There's a boat there?

Its a shame they crashed the boat

**qctracing** · 03-04-2009, 04:25 PM

I think the boat made out ok... It was mostly rubrail damage

**robert jordan** · 03-04-2009, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by qctracing

I think the boat made out ok... It was mostly rubrail damage

What about the girl? How did her rubrail turn out?

**STV_Keith** · 03-04-2009, 04:58 PM

This boat (being in the water or right at it) is a prime candidate for a GPS tracker. Actually, any boat is really. My buddy here in Vegas is selling these now and MAN are they slick!

Wired in to 12vDC, they use a cell phone service built in to transmit their location which is provided by onboard GPS. The GPS records location, then the cell phone signal transmits that to the monitoring company's server, or can be "pinged" to send it's signal at any time.

The unit itself is really small, with a built in GPS antenna and cell antenna. I'm talking like 2" x 3" x 1" thick. Online, you can setup "geo-fences" or an area of operation, and if the unit goes outside this area, it can notify you by e-mail or text message. It can also be set to send it's e-mail/text if the vehicle speed exceeds a preset maximum. One service available even offers real-time tracking where you can see where the vehicle is, and where it has moved and how fast, as well as stop times, etc. This is mainly for people with company trucks that have drivers driving around in them. They can use them to make sure the drivers aren't speeding or going outside their area of operation.

Another cool feature is that the unit can be told, via the website, to activate an onboard solenoid output. In an automotive application, this can be used to shut off the fuel pump, disable a fly-by-wire pedal (making the car return to ONLY idle), set off the alarm, unlock the doors, etc. In a boat application, it would be easy to just ground the off switch on all motors to cause the boat to die immediately.

I've looked into the units quite a bit, but for under $300, they are truely a great salvation whether it be on land or on the water. Obviously there are off-shore limitations to the capabilities as the cell service will eventually be interrupted, but as soon as the unit comes back into any cell service, it would broadcast it's position at that time.

Check it out: http://www.gpstrackingdaddy.com/theftrecovery.htm

**BUIZILLA** · 03-04-2009, 05:08 PM

www.zoombak.com

**qctracing** · 03-04-2009, 05:38 PM

I own a used car dealership and run GPS's in all cars I finance inhouse. When they stop making their bi-monthly payments I can go online and see an actual picture of where it is at and I call the tow truck company. I can also cut their ignition off. I would definitely install one on a boat kept on a lift