Northwest Fishing Reports

Since I have had a motor stolen in the past it is nice to see a motor get recovered! Too bad the punks are only going to serve three months in jail.


Mukilteo man sets up own sting to recover stolen motor

05:31 PM PST on Thursday, March 6, 2008

By ROB PIERCY / KING 5 News

EVERETT, Wash. – A Mukilteo man who had his boat motor stolen in January got mad. Then, he used the Internet to get even.

When Doug Voice bought his fishing boat last year, he never thought twice about parking it in his fenced yard.

That is until a few weeks ago when thieves stole one of his boat's two motors.

Fuming mad, Doug filed a police report and then got on the computer, figuring the crooks would try to sell it online.

Sure enough, on the same morning as the theft, there was a Craiglslist ad for a Yamaha outboard motor just like Doug's.

Doug and his wife hatched a plan. They'd call the seller and arrange to buy the motor, but instead of bringing cash, they'd bring police.

"We're stubborn people. We're mad. We want these people to be brought to justice," said Doug.

So, they met up at a south Everett restaurant. Doug's wife walked up to the crook's car while police waited a few blocks away.

"We weren't going to put ourselves at risk. We're smart enough not to do that," said Doug.

Doug's wife had written the serial number of the motor on her hand. When she looked in the trunk, she got a jolt of adrenaline.

"Her heart just started beating real fast 'cause she knew it was our motor, and these were the guys that took it," said Doug.

The serial numbers matched. Doug's wife gave a hand gesture and Doug called police, who swooped in for the arrest.

"Shock and awe. Whey weren't expecting us at all and started looking at the lady like, 'what's going on here?'" said Officer Jason Jones, Everett Police.

"Score one for the good guys. Every once in a while we win," said Doug.

Two men were arrested. Mark Hendrix, 32, has already pleaded guilty to theft. Prosecutors recommended two months in jail, but the judge was so impressed by what Voice had done, he made it three months, ordered Hendrix to pay restitution and pay for his own public defender.

The other suspect has not been charged.

5 years on a chain gang cleaning up public launches would have been more appropriate.

July he will be back at it again getting money to pay for his public defender.

"Can't you people take the law into your own hands? I mean, we can't be policing the entire city!"
-Chief Wiggum

Marc Martyn wrote:5 years on a chain gang cleaning up public launches would have been more appropriate.

July he will be back at it again getting money to pay for his public defender.

You're right Marc. This happened to someone I know and they never recovered their motor. I do know one thing, motors are usually shipped cross country or sold via ebay or CL not thru Seattle sites. They do it for drug money, and can make a living doing this. 3 months time isn't good enough. I live in Edmonds where theft is rampid at the Edmonds Marina and this happens all the time. About 3 years in jail with a $50,000 fine would have been justice; we'll see him out there again, but then again, the guy has his name out there now, so that's not good for employment reasons.

kokes wrote:

Marc Martyn wrote:5 years on a chain gang cleaning up public launches would have been more appropriate.

July he will be back at it again getting money to pay for his public defender.

You're right Marc. This happened to someone I know and they never recovered their motor. I do know one thing, motors are usually shipped cross country or sold via ebay or CL not thru Seattle sites. They do it for drug money, and can make a living doing this. 3 months time isn't good enough. I live in Edmonds where theft is rampid at the Edmonds Marina and this happens all the time. About 3 years in jail with a $50,000 fine would have been justice]

Not all thieves are drug users. Without a doubt there are a lot of people who are ripping off motors and stuff for money that is needed to get their next fix, but not every one of them are drug addicts...

All I know is that some of them are REALLY stupid to go turn around and try and sell that motor on craigslist right after they take it....They usually wait or sell it elsewhere....

This guy should get a few more months just for the stupidity of turning around and selling the thing right on craigslist right after they took it....Unfortunately the guy will probably be out in a few months....

Well at least they caught the guy and he got some sort of sentance. I see at least a year of probation, and if he gets caught while on probation, he will get hit hard. Maybe (hopefully) even a maximum sentence. When I was really little our motor was taken off our boat, in our carport, the night before our family vacation.