Grand theft trial is a go

Marisa O’Neil

A man who bought a yacht from a local couple shortly before they

disappeared in November will have to stand trial on unrelated grand

theft charges, a judge ordered Wednesday.

Newport Beach Police Det. Richard Bradley testified at the

preliminary hearing that he investigated 25-year-old Long Beach

resident Skylar DeLeon for about $7,000 of unpaid work done in 2003

on another boat he owned, according to prosecutors.

DeLeon, who told police he bought a 55-foot cabin cruiser for

$400,000 cash from Newport Beach couple Tom and Jackie Hawks just

before they went missing, has not been charged in connection with

their disappearance.

Police suspect foul play in their disappearance.

“I haven’t heard anything about that since the filing of the case,

DeLeon’s attorney, Ed Welbourn, said outside the courtroom Wednesday.

During Wednesday’s hearing, DeLeon clutched in his manacled hands

a wallet-sized photograph of a young woman and child sitting against

a sky-blue background.

Jennifer DeLeon, his 23-year-old pregnant wife, was not present in

court Wednesday.

She is due to deliver the couple’s second child any day, Welbourn

said.

Skylar DeLeon occasionally shook his head in disagreement as

Bradley testified that the owner of a Costa Mesa company, Mo Beck

Stern Drive Co., told police that Skylar DeLeon paid $18,000 cash --

in $100 bills -- to have work done on his 26-foot Sea Ray.

Bradley accused Skylar DeLeon of reneging on an oral agreement to

pay for additional work on the boat, called Doctor Crunch.

Skylar DeLeon did not show up April 17, when he’d agreed to pick

up the boat and pay the $7,000 due for additional work he requested,

Bradley testified.

The next day, Beck showed up to work and found a lock had been cut

on the boat, and it was gone, Bradley said.

Attempts to contact Skylar DeLeon were unsuccessful, and he filed

a lawsuit to recover the lost money, Bradley testified.

In October, Skylar DeLeon traded Doctor Crunch to a man selling a

Hatteras yacht, Bradley said.

He purchased the Well Deserved from the Hawkses in November,

according to police.

DeLeon was arrested in December on money laundering charges, a day

after the Hawkses’ car was found in Ensenada, Mexico.

Prosecutors dropped those charges earlier this month and filed the

grand theft charges.

A trial to settle the lawsuit over the unpaid boat work is already

pending in civil court, Welbourn said.

“What strikes me is that they’re now filing a case that originated

in 2003,” Welbourn said.

“There’s already pending litigation.”