Police arrest 3 teens aboard harbor yacht
Marisa O’Neil
Police on Monday arrested three teenagers who broke into the boat
recently sold by Tom and Jackie Hawks, a Newport Beach couple who
have been missing for a month.
Two Costa Mesa residents and one Santa Ana resident, all between
15 and 17, stole a small boat and used it to paddle out to the Well
Deserved, a 55-foot cabin cruiser moored in the harbor, Newport Beach
Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said. There, they broke a window, entered
the boat and helped themselves to food and drink, Shulman said.
They stayed aboard and fished from the boat, he said.
Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol
in Newport Beach noticed the intruders at about 8 p.m. and called
Newport Beach Police, Shulman said.
Newport Beach Police arrested the three teenagers on suspicion of
vandalism and burglary, he said.
The Well Deserved, which is moored in Newport Harbor near 11th
Street, was sold last month for about $400,000 cash by the Hawks, a
retired couple who had been living on the boat.
The couple have not been heard from since, and the money never
showed up in their bank accounts, police said. Those accounts haven’t
had any activity since they disappeared, Shulman said.
Family members grew concerned because the couple usually stay in
close contact with them.
Pleas for information about their whereabouts have appeared on
local and national news programs.
Shulman said he did not believe the teenagers targeted the boat
because of the media coverage. He didn’t know why they chose to break
into that particular boat.
The boat is being held as evidence by police, though it still sits
in its mooring. Because it is in police custody, deputies have been
keeping a close eye on the boat, Shulman said.
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