Harbor Worker Saw Man at Helm : Deputies Issue Sketch of Boat Theft Suspect

Sheriff’s deputies, investigating the theft and attempted scuttling of a 50-foot powerboat from Dana Point Harbor, released a sketch Thursday of a suspect believed responsible for the crime.

The drawing was made from descriptions supplied by a man whom deputies identified only as a worker at the harbor. He told investigators that he was in another boat when he passed the Bravado as it headed out the Dana Point channel just before 9 a.m. Oct. 29.

The worker told Sgt. Tom Garner and Investigator Chuck Mullen that he realized that the man at the helm of the Bravado was not the owner. He described the suspect as white, about 30, with dark hair. The witness said he could see only the man’s head and shoulders above a railing around the vessel’s bridge.

The powerboat was found the next day, with only its bow above water, about a mile off South Laguna. The $125,000 vessel had been stripped of electronic and other gear, its windows were smashed and a hole was chopped in the foredeck.

“We have no way of knowing if there were other people on board, besides the one seen by our witness,” Mullen said. “It’s a big boat, with lots of cabin space below. Also, we have no idea about how the people got ashore with the stolen gear. There was no dinghy or skiff on the Bravado when she was taken from her slip, according to the owner, Roger Cumin.”

Cumin, an airline pilot who lives in San Clemente, was in Washington state on a hunting trip when the boat was stolen.

The badly damaged vessel was towed back to the harbor where, Garner said, she is being examined by marine experts and insurance company investigators to see if restoration is possible.

The sheriff’s officers said the Bravado is believed to be only the second boat stolen from Dana Point since the harbor opened more than 15 years ago. The first, taken more than a year ago, was found in San Francisco.

Mullen said he didn’t believe that there was “any connection with drug trafficking” in the Bravado case. “She’s not a fast enough boat for that kind of operation,” he said.

He asked that anyone with information call him at the South County Sheriff’s Substation at (714) 834-6005.