The teenage motorboat thief is finally caught after a high-speed boat chase
A teenage motorboat thief who sparked an international police chase has been arrested in the Bahamas after two and a half years on the run.
Colton Harris-Moore, known as the Barefoot Bandit for the naked footprints he left at US crime scenes, was spotted by a marina security guard on Harbour Island in the Bahamas but managed to escape by comandeering a 30ft speedboat.
“We heard some commotion outside and found out that my boat was stolen, and then found out subsequently it was the ‘Barefoot Bandit’ everybody has been talking about,” boatowner William Sport told ABC News.
The police were alerted and stopped Harris-Moore by shooting out the engine of the boat, which ran aground. The 19-year-old reportedly threatened to commit suicide but was talked out of it by officers on the scene.
Harris-Moore has spent more than two years trying to avoid FBI agents, leading them on a chase across at least five US states.
He is expected to make his first court appearance in the Bahamas today to face charges connected with stealing motorboats, airplanes and breaking into dozens of houses, costing around $3m in damage and theft.
In addition to stealing motorboats, Harris-Moore took at least four planes after he reportedly taught himself to fly using internet manuals.
He fled the US state of Indiana in a stolen Cessna and flew 1000 miles to the Bahamas before making a crash-landing on 5 July in a marsh on the island of Abaco.
