After a dramatic and amazing caper involving three suspects charged with stealing a sailboat from Sausalito and getting the craft stuck on a sandbar in Pacifica, the "Darling" was hauled to Richmond on Tuesday for repairs.
Tim Parker of Tim Parker Services said he put a bridal on the multimillion-dollar sailboat, which is registered in the Cayman Islands but docks at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor, and tugged the vessel to Richmond's Bay Marine Boatworks. The journey took four hours. Crews in Richmond are expected to fix the sailboat; there is damage to the rudder, propeller and hull. It may cost as much as $500,000 to repair.
The repairs come after a crazy day on Monday, that began in the wee hours of the morning and landed three suspects in jail.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that Pacifica police are expected to complete their investigation so that the defendants may face felony grand theft and conspiracy charges as early as Wednesday afternoon in Redwood City.
The defendants are: Leslie Gardner, 63 of Gillette, Wy.; along with Dario Mira, 54 and Lisa Modawell, 55, both of Aptos.
Police said the trio stole the Darling, an 82-foot sailboat, from the Sausalito Yacht Harbor on Monday about 1: 30 a.m.
But the boat got stuck about 20 miles away at 5:30 a.m. at Pacifica's Linda Mar Beach. Oddly, the three on board refused Coast Guard help. Media crews flocked to the beach to see if the sailboat would get off the sandbar it was stuck on.
It was during one of those TV news broadcasts that the real owner of the Darling spotted his boat. He reported it stolen.
And by noon, the suspects had surrendered and were taken to San Mateo County jail.
Wagstaffe said they are being held in custody on $1 million bail.
Related story:
Three Arrested After Stolen Sausalito Boat Runs Aground
Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-432-4758 or lisa.fernandez@nbcuni.com.
