Trio charged after stolen boat found partially submerged and stripped. And it may not be only one

Three people have been charged with grand theft after detectives with the Manatee and Sarasota counties sheriff’s offices connected them to the theft of a deck boat from a dealer that was stripped for parts and later left half-sunk at a Bradenton boat ramp.

Robert L. Michael II, 42, Edward J. Smith, 40, and Kasandra Giddings, 30, are each facing one count of grand theft of more than $100,000, according to arrest reports.

Michael and Giddings have been arrested and are being held at the Sarasota County Jail. Michael, also charged with driving with a suspended license, is being held on bonds totaling $20,120, and Giddings is being held on a $20,000 bond.

There is currently a warrant for Smith’s arrest.

On July 15, detectives with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office began investigating after a 2015 Sportsman 247 boat was reported missing from the owner’s driveway, according to arrest reports. Detectives were able to develop suspect vehicles after obtaining surveillance video from two nearby businesses that had captured a silver Ford F150 towing the boat followed by a light-colored Toyota Tacoma.

The following day, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office found a boat matching its description, partially submerged and stripped of its parts, detectives say.

When the assigned detective returned to the victim’s home, he reported seeing the same Toyota Tacoma from the surveillance video parked at a neighbor’s house. The Tacoma’s registration was later traced back to Michael. Meanwhile, in Manatee County, the sheriff’s office received an anonymous tip that Smith was selling stolen parts from his home in the 4500 block of 101st Street East in Cortez and may have been involved in the reported theft.

Detectives from both counties teamed up and conducted surveillance on Smith’s home Wednesday and saw the same trucks that had been seen on the surveillance video. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives searched the home and recovered boat parts from the missing boat, according to the reports.

Another informant later told detectives that Smith, Michael and Giddings all had been involved.

Giddings, who had a warrant for her arrest, admitted to detectives that she had drove the Tacoma, following Smith and Michael to Smith’s home where they stripped the boat. Smith and Michael had sold some of the stolen boat parts, Giddings allegedly told detectives.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office also recently found another stolen boat in a boat ramp at 2900 Manatee Avenue East in Bradenton, partially submerged and stripped of parts. That missing 29-foot Crownline deck boat was taken from the GT Marine, located at 7981 N. Tamiami Trail, at about 9 p.m. July 11 when detectives say the suspects tore down the chain-link fence at the dealership.

The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. It is still unknown if this trio is connected to the missing Crownline deck boat.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Trio charged after stolen boat found partially submerged and stripped. And it may not be only one."