ROUSES POINT, N.Y. — A man stole a nearly $1 million yacht from its slip in upstate New York and sailed it to a Vermont state park, investigators said.
Authorities said Robert Morris took a 48-foot Jeanneau Prestige 500 yacht named “Volans” from the Safe Harbor Gaines Marina in Rouses Point, New York, and navigated it across Lake Champlain to Vermont, WCAX reported.
Morris, 56, was at sea two days before the vessel was recovered at Burton Island State Park. Authorities said they found five other sets of boat keys on the yacht, which were missing from the marina.
Morris was arrested and charged with felony grand larceny, operating without the owner’s consent and possession of stolen property, WCAX reported.
The yacht is owned by Ron McCarthy, a Montreal resident who keeps the ship at the upstate New York slip.
At his arraignment Wednesday, Morris said he was water testing the boat after making mechanical repairs to it, WCAX reported. He also said McCarthy had given him permission to use it and was taking the boat to him in Montreal. McCarthy said this was not true. The boat was also found heading south, not north, where McCarthy lives.