Youths Arrested at Helm of Allegedly Stolen Boat

Two youths were apprehended by the Coast Guard Tuesday afternoon after the 34-foot pleasure boat they allegedly stole ran into trouble nine miles south of Newport Beach, officials said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Tony Chilelli said his office received a call about a disabled vessel at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and dispatched a patrol boat to the scene, where rescuers discovered two youths at the helm.

“The vessel, a gray 34-foot pleasure craft, turned out to be stolen,” Chilelli said.

Coast Guard officials identified one of the suspects as William Foxx, 18.

They would not release the name of the second, saying he is a juvenile. Officials would only say he is 17 and had run away from Boys Republic in Chino, a private school for abused, abandoned and neglected children.

Max Scott, director of Boys Republic, said two boys, one of whom was from Orange County, walked off the 211-acre facility Saturday.

But he added that he has not yet been contacted by authorities and does not know whether it was either of his students who were involved in the boat theft.

Meanwhile, the owner of the boat, Dean Klockenteger of El Monte, learned that his boat was missing from an electrician he had hired to do some work on the Newport Beach-moored boat.

“The electrician was supposed to go out and fix the boat,” explained Klockenteger’s daughter-in-law, Lisa, of Huntington Beach. “He called Dean at work to say there was no boat there.

“Dean thought, ‘What the heck is going on?’ and went down there to see if the electrician was at the right boat. It was just missing. We are not completely sure of the whole situation.”

Lisa Klockenteger added that the family knew one of the boys and described him as the son of a family friend.

Coast Guard officials detained the youths and later turned them over to the Harbor Patrol, which made the arrests.

Lee Foresman, a spokesman for the Harbor Patrol, said Tuesday evening that the youths were taken to Juvenile Hall.