ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
Three juveniles have been charged in connection with the recent theft and destruction of a boat on Smith Mountain Lake and the theft of nine other boats.
The youths were arrested Tuesday after officers of the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries responded to a call that a boat had been stolen from Indian Point Marina.
The officers met the stolen boat and stopped it, the department's Lt. Karl Martin said. A 15-year-old boy was operating the boat.
While officers talked to him, a boat that had been following him turned abruptly. Officers later found that boat, which turned out be stolen, near the spot where they had found what was left of another stolen craft.
Remnants of that boat, which had burned, were discovered June 15 in shallow water in Franklin County, about five miles from the Bedford County dock where it was stolen.
The 15-year-old told police two of his friends, a 16-year-old and an 11-year-old, had taken the second stolen boat, Martin said.
The boys admitted to stealing nine boats in all - several were returned without the owner ever knowing - and breaking into a house to gain access to a boat, Martin said. One boat was vandalized and sunk.
The boys also admitted setting fire to the boat stolen from Bedford County to cover their tracks, Martin said. The boat was worth an estimated $14,000.
Juvenile petitions were filed Wednesday, charging the boys with arson, larceny, breaking and entering and unauthorized use of the boats, Martin said.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB