A Pinellas County man stole a million-dollar yacht, then quickly abandoned it after crashing, Pinellas County deputies said. The stolen Jeanneau Leader 46 was later found in an oyster bed.
Donnovan Russell Jester, 28, was charged with theft of a vessel.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies say Jester stole the 46-foot 2019 Jeanneau Leader with a value of about $1 million dollars back in March.
According to the arrest report, Jester took off in the stolen yacht, but ran into several channel markers and then abandoned the boat, leaving it to drift off into the oyster bed.
Investigators located a thumbprint on the cabin door that matched Jester according to the arrest report.
The Tampa Bay Times reports he’s being held on $50,000 bail.
No word yet on how bad the damage was to the stolen Jeanneau Leader 46.
According to boatsales.com.au the Jeanneau Leader 46 is a sportscruiser with a full-beam aft stateroom with adjoining en suite. These features are hard to find on a yacht with a modest 12.67m or 41ft 6in hull length. The aft stateroom is impressive in respect of volume and it rivals that found on 50 foot shaft-driven boats.
The master en suite to port has a split head and separate shower with frosted bi-fold doors that come together to create a private ablutions area. With the doors locked back to form separate head and shower cubicles, you create the full-beam effect. You can see right through the bathroom landing, the portlights and beyond from the island queen bed.
The Leader 46 comes with a range of power options. These include Volvo Penta’s diesel-only sterndrive Duoprop (DPS) and IPS. You can start with 370hp D6s, have the 400hp D6 variants, or IPS 500s (370hp) and IPS-600s (435hp).
Related story: Superyacht Ecstasea crashes into Simpson Bay Bridge
English 
Spanish