Florida $ 2.5 million luxury yacht ends after the boat hunt with police officers

A Russian man with an address in North Carolina is at the center of a “bizarre” Grand theft with two boots stolen in Florida, including a luxury yacht of 2.5 million US dollars, according to the investigators.

Nikolai Vilka was arrested on May 5 during a dramatic boat hunt, which ended when several patrol boats push the 68-foot yacht into the mangroves, said Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek at a press conference.

Vilka, whose last known speech is in Charlotte, told the investigators that he did not speak English and asked the Ministry of Homeland Protection to provide a Russian interpreter, said officials.

The 29-year-old is accused of starting the crime against May 5 at 2 a.m. by steel a tug that was on a sandbar, officers said.

Then, around 3:55 p.m., Vilka dipped the Blowing Rocks Marina near Tequesta again on Monday, where he took the three -story yacht from his berth, shared the sheriff's office.

A Dock master initially suspected that something was wrong and that the captain of the boat was confirmed that it was not planned to go into the sea that day, officers said.

“We tried to put it together because the information was really bizarre for us,” said Budensiek. “At first we thought that the ship was repeated what we occasionally had. We found out that this is not the case. The ship is actually paid.”

The yacht was seen as he made his way north to the IntraCoastal Waterway in the direction of the Hope Sound area, he said.

The Hope Sound Bridge was then “blocked” to put the yacht, but Vilka began to use the yacht to press the stack of the bridge, said Budensiek. “We made the decision to open the bridge so that the boat … did not cause any damage to the bridge,” he said.

It was about a quarter mile north of the bridge that the MPs noticed that Vilka had problems maneuvering the yacht, and they had a plan to “beach” the ship against mangrove trees, he said.

Vilka refused to surrender when the MPs climbed into the boat, and tear gas was used to force him to make do without, said officials.

The suspect seemed to have problems maneuvering the 68-foot boat in the intracoastal waterway, and that made it possible for the MPs to force it into the mangroves, officers said. Martin County Sheriff's Office Photo

A motif still has to be revealed. One theory, however, is that the yacht was brought to the Bahamas, where it could be used for smuggling in the United States, said Budensiek. The boat has sufficient fuel capacity to make such a trip, officials said.

“He answered questions to a certain degree (by a translator). He admitted to having stolen the ship, but nothing that was excessively revealing for us. We want to know where you came from, why you stole the ship, where he had with the ship and by ship,” said Bodensik. “These questions were not answered.”

It is also a mystery that he knew the “complex process” that was necessary to start a boat of this size, said civil servants.

Federal civil servants have confirmed that Vilka is a Russian citizen who flew from Turkey to Mexico with his wife and child in November 2022, and crossed the US border in December.

Vilka's driver's license confirmed that the family in Charlotte had settled for reasons that have not yet been known. Charlotte is a 640-mile ride north of Martin County.

A dramatic boat hunt along Floridas Intracoastaler Wasserstrasse took a strange turn when the MPs discovered that it was piloted by a Russian citizen who, according to investigators, does not speak English. Video screen grave

On April 30, 2024, his wife and child flew back to Russia for unknown reasons, officers said.

His whereabouts are vague, including why he was in Florida, said officials. He told an interpreter that he slept in his car in the days before his arrest.

Vilka was charged with great theft of a motor vehicle (2.5 million US dollars), tightened flight and consumption and resistance without violence. It is recorded without bond, officials said.

In conjunction with the theft of the towing low in Jupiter, additional fees are expected, the officials say.

He was unarmed when he was arrested, with just one change of clothing in the yacht, said officials. He had no cell phone and his car was left on a parking service and dragged it to an unknown place by the owner.

Martin County is about 105 miles to the north of Miami along the state's Atlantic coast.