EVERETT — The police dispatcher told the retired community college professor he shouldn’t try to catch a thief who stole his dinghy.
Brian Edwards, 69, gave chase anyway.
Early Friday morning, he powered along the Everett waterfront in his 32-foot cruiser, Hells Bells.
He drew within a few dozen feet of the 10-foot inflatable dinghy, hollering at the young man at the controls.
“He waved at me,” said Edwards, of Granite Falls. “I was just astonished.”
It wasn’t the way Edwards wanted to start his morning.
He bought Hells Bells in October. It already bore its name. He was considering taking a cruise on Friday to Port Ludlow.
He woke up on board a bit before 6:30 a.m. to the sound of scraping plastic.
Still in his briefs, he looked out from his cabin. He didn’t see anything.
He suspected his dinghy, called Baby Boo, was bumping something. He pulled on his pants and walked out back, planning to drop rubber fenders as buffers.
But Baby Boo was gone.
“I looked up and saw it going around the end of the pier,” Edwards said.
There actually were two dinghies stolen from the marina Friday morning, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said. Police believe two suspects worked together.
There has been an increase in small boat thefts.
“It’s not for the boat,” Goetz said. “It’s for the boat motor. Boat motors can be a real hot item — even the small ones.”
Edwards estimated his dinghy cost about $4,500, including a $2,000 motor.
He snapped to attention as it floated away. Along with being a retired professor of visual communications at Shoreline Community College, Edwards spent 32 years in the Army Reserve.
The water was calm. He quickly backed out from the dock and called 911. He told the dispatcher he was pursuing dinghy thieves.
“She said, ‘Wait a minute, what?’” Edwards recalled.
Edwards followed the dinghies from the 12th Street Yacht Basin toward Possession Sound. At first, the small boats putted along slowly through a no-wake zone.
Then they saw Hells Bells.
They sped up. Edwards did the same. He closed in as the vessels headed toward Mukilteo. He started circling his dinghy, kicking up waves to slow the smaller boats.
He was still on the phone with the 911 dispatcher. At one point she asked if the thief had a weapon.
Edwards wasn’t worried.
“They’d have to be a hell of a good shot with the rocking,” he said.
The two dinghies separated. One later was recovered back at the 12th Street Yacht Basin. Police are still searching for that alleged thief, Goetz said.
Baby Boo shot toward Howarth Park. It grounded with the motor still running. About $200 damage was done to the propeller, Edwards estimated.
Edwards told police he saw the suspect bolt up the beach and into the woods.
Police set up a perimeter.
Around 7 a.m., officers noticed a man sitting at the bus stop near West Mukilteo Boulevard and Seahurst Avenue.
Edwards identified the alleged thief, 25, of Everett.
A police dog traced the suspect’s path from the dinghy to the bus stop. He was arrested for investigation of first-degree theft, Goetz said.
Later that morning, Baby Boo again was tied safely to Hells Bells. Edwards felt a little shaky, though, his burst of adrenaline gone.
“I like to think that’s the military experience,” he said. “You solve the problem, then you fall apart.”
He postponed the cruise to Port Ludlow. The wind was picking up, dotting the water with white caps.
“We won’t go anywhere in weather like this,” Edwards said. “We’re not that confident. Although I should be.”
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com
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