Complaint Review: Florida Department Law Enforcement

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement a state police agency who is sworn to protect the citizens and visitors of florida, has failed severly. You see i had a grand theft commited to me by having my yacht stolen. Local police in key west ignored the theft so i begged the f.D.l.e for help. During my first call to officer Dave Quigley just before Christmas 2006 i explained my situation to him. Within 5 minutes he said "what you have had commited to you is clearly a grand theft, the fact they claim you owe them some kind of back rent for dock space is a civil matter for them only, going and taking your yacht is grand theft" I remember after telling me this he did go on to say he would be off the next day for xmas break(2weeks). I called a day or two later and spoke to officer d"ambrosia special agent.

When i talked to him he explained they normally didnt handle things like this but due to the fact i spoke to officer quigley he would help me out. After hearing my story he told me also withing 5 minutes it was clearly grand theft. He also went on to tell me although he didnt have the authority to make the monroe county sheriffs office(police i filed grand theft report with originally that ignored it totally) change report from civil to grand theft but he would call to ask them to do so. I told him they wouldnt and he said if they didnt he had the authority on a state level to file the grand theft himself and he would. I was so excited but that was short lived. A short time after special agent d'ambrsoia called with an attorney on the phone with him named boswell. They spoke to me and my wife and it didnt take long to go from" i will get it fixed a few days earlier" to "this is a civil matter" My wife and i was amazed. During this call i did ask attorney boswell a hypothetical question" if the people who took boat did not have any court paperwork allowing them to take the yacht, is that grand theft? within a minute or so she answered yes. You see the people who took boat have claimed they had a lien the whole time but they do not have any court liens or court paperwork allowing them to take yacht. The people who took yacht sold it without any court paperwork the man who bought yacht was given his money back quickly from these thieves because the coast guard documentation center who governs this yacht said in no way would this sale go through without any courtpaperwork, it was illegal.

I will post a copy of the recent key west newspaper just two weeks ago. Its to easy for the f.d.l.e to blow this off like other agencies because they want to say "get the local police to do it". Knowing the local police have totally ignored the crime originally, why? its simple,Monroe county sheriffs were influenced by the big money these people have. You see key west has alot of history of corruption its well doccumented. To read one article about these local sheriffs go to corruption-keywest.com
read mikes story this is just one of may years of the garbage that goes on down there. I have written commisioner of the f.d.l.e Gerald Bailey telling him how his officers have totally ignored their jobs and still waiting for a response. I would say as of now reading the F.D.L.E web site talking about protecting the public etc is a bunch of garbage. If you go on the site look up their headlines storys about arresting a sporting goods employee for selling stolen merchandise on e bay. While that is great what about the guy who handed you a grand theft case? one other reason myself and many others who know the story believes the F.D.L.E didnt do anything its simple... This case is clearly grand theft no doubt, if they were to make arrests their fellow officers in monroe county who didnt do anything from get go will be taking alot of flack for ignoring the grand theft from the beginning. It will all come out soon because i have a federal lawsuit filed in federal court miami. Great everyone says, not really if police did their d**n job from the get go several people would not be wasting money on lawsuits because the F.D.L.E refused to do their job. My message to commisioner bailey if you truly believe in the oath you and your officers have taken? You need to not only do the d**n job you were sworn to do but hold everyone in your office fully responsible who ignored such a simple d**n crime so that their brother officers in monroe county wont look bad. Well you need to wake up because im sure after the federal suit (which i shouldnt have to go throught because your people cant/refuse to do their job)not only will the original police look bad so will others who turned their backs to it like the F.D.L.E. Below is a front page story run by local key west newspaper.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Reeves Cooper [mailto:kwtnblue@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 8:52 AM
To: kwtnblue@bellsouth.net
Subject: NEWS STORY ABOUT ALLEGED BOAT THEFT

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Last October, Kevin McCarthy, of Amelia Island, Florida, drove down to Key West to look at a 45-foot boat being offered for sale by the Ocean Key House Resort. He looked at the boat, talked to a broker and was ready to offer the asking price of $110,000.

Then he learned that the hotel was planning to auction off the boat. So he checked with hotel General Manager Steve Boswell and the hotel's attorney, Alan Eckstein.

I wanted to make sure that the hotel really owned the boat, McCarthy told Key West the Newspaper this week. They told me that they had taken possession of the boat after the owner had defaulted on his dockage payments.

So McCarthy authorized his broker to bid on the boat and he got it for $71,000. And he got a purchase sales agreement from Attorney Eckstein.

McCarthy motored the boat up to Islamorada and left it there for 10 days for cleaning and servicing. Then he and his wife returned to the Keys to take the boat up to Amelia Island.

We were nearing Miami when both engines quit on us, he said. And while we were waiting on a tow, I got a call on my cell phone from Robert Krutko, who identified himself as the former owner of the boat. He told me, You are on my stolen vessel.'

He said that the Ocean Key House had stolen the boat from him and had illegally resold it, McCarthy said.

I didn't know what to think, so while we were being towed to Miami, I called Attorney Eckstein. He reassured me that everything was okay. Then I checked with a Miami maritime lawyer recommended by the towboat driver. After listening to my story, he told me that I had probably bought a stolen boat.

McCarthy said he had already made arrangements for extensive servicing in Ft. Lauderdale, so he had the boat towed there and, back home, consulted with another maritime lawyer in Jacksonville.

He agreed with the Miami lawyer and, after some more research, he wrote Eckstein a letter demanding that they return my $71,000, McCarthy said. It took them a couple of weeks, but they finally sent me the money.

Last December, the Ocean Key House sued Krutko in federal court, alleging that he owes the hotel more than $60,000 in dockage fees. Krutko has counter sued, alleging grand theft.

Krutko said that, in June of 2005, he and his wife bought an existing sunset cruise and snorkeling business based at the Ocean Key House Resort marina. The deal included the boat.

We were paying $3000 per month for dockage on a month-to-month basis, he said. But we soon learned that we were losing thousands of dollars because the concierges at the hotel were referring business to our competitors. I complained to General Manager Boswell and he promised to put a stop to it. But nothing changed.

Then, the hurricanes of September and October 2005 blew through, and many of the docks and walkways at the hotel were destroyed.

The hotel had ordered all boats out of the marina before the storms but, after Wilma, we were allowed to return because our slip was intact, Krutko said. But we were not required to pay rent for a couple of months because the marina was not operational.

But by December, when the walkways in the marina had been repaired, he and his wife had decided to move the boat, put it up for sale and move on.

But Boswell begged us to stay, even offering six months free rent because of the storms and the problems the concierges had caused us, Krutko said. But the problem never got any better.

So, a few days before the six-month free rent deal expired, Krutko said that he had an employee move the boat out of the hotel marina, up to his home on a canal on Cudjoe Key, 23 miles away.

But it was decided that there wasn't enough room to put the boat at my dock, so he anchored it out in the bay, Krutko said.

But, the next day, the boat was missing and Krutko filed a theft report with the Sheriff's Office. Deputies reported that a call had come in from a neighbor who said the boat was adrift and that he had called the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC).

An FWC officer found the boat and a Sea Tow boat showed up at the same time. Then a call came in from the Ocean Key House. Hotel officials reportedly told the officer that the boat had broken loose in the marina and that it should be returned to the hotel.

Incredibly, the FWC officer released the boat to the hotel, rather than having it towed to a secure location until the owner could be found, Krutko said. It didn't seem to occur to the officer to question how the boat could have drifted' from the Ocean Key House to a location 23 miles up the Keys!

A Sheriff's deputy reportedly later found the boat chained to the dock at the hotel marina. Upon questioning, hotel employees reportedly told the deputy that the hotel had a lien on the boat, but they could not produce any paperwork to support that claim.

The Sheriff not only bought that bogus claim, a deputy called me and told me it was now a civil matter, Krutko said.

Not long after that, the hotel sold the boat to Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy said that, even though the hotel returned his purchase price to him, he is still out thousands of dollars for other expenses associated with buying and moving the boat. I am watching Robert's lawsuit against the hotel, he said. When he wins his suit, I'm next in line.

Krutko calls the hotel's lawsuit outrageous.

They are even suing for dockage fees during the time, after the storms, when the hotel didn't have any docks. he said.

He said he is also disappointed in State Attorney Mark Kohl, who refused to accept his grand theft complaint against the hotel. Why can't he see grand theft when it's staring him right in the face?

While the lawyers wrangle, the boat remains in the custody of federal marshals in a Ft. Lauderdale marina, continuing to run up dockage bills.

I will also say to those reading and following this kevin mc carthy the guy in the news article was just interviewed by a local paper in his area and it will be in the paper soon. several major papers have called me for interview also. All papers want a full story when this trial is over. The f.d.l.e and other agencies have been given several chances to step up and do what they were sworn to do. I will keep everyone posted on what they do.

Robert
columbus, Ohio
U.S.A.