Some marina owners in the Rochester, N.Y., area recently came together to help Irondequoit police arrest two men who allegedly broke into more than 50 boats after Hurricane Sandy swept through and left chaos in its wake.
Mark McMillan, who owns McMillan Marine, told Rochester’s Time Warner Cable Channel 9 that his business survived the storm with no problems, but when he came to work last week he discovered that his and three other marinas had been robbed.
Police say the crimes involved thousands of dollars in stolen goods from boats. McMillan says 90 percent of it was recovered.
“Unfortunately, in times of peril with disasters like that, people tend to do a little looting. This isn’t just boats. These guys have been around to car dealerships and construction sites,” McMillan told the TV station.
Authorities say the two men broke into boats and stole as many as 40 batteries and electric wires and sold them to a recycling center in Macedon, N.Y. They have been charged with grand larceny and criminal mischief, and additional charges are pending.
“We all teamed together and we started calling salvage yards. One of the salvage yards in Macedon was gracious enough to call us back and tell us they had a bunch of batteries come in. They had some marine batteries in, and the gentlemen were supposed to be back again,” McMillan said.
A third man was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property.
