CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – Charlotte County deputies have arrested a man they allege attempted to steal a sailboat, forging a handwritten bill of sale from a previous owner.
Jeremy Fuller, 40, of Key West, is charged with two counts of grand theft, for the boat and for other items from the boat, a probable cause affidavit said.
Deputies say the owner of the boat called deputies Dec. 13 when he noticed the 1990 Endeavour sailboat he had purchased for $20,000 had been moved from its mooring near Cape Haze Point.
When the owner approached the boat, a man, later identified as Fuller, was exiting the vessel. The victim said Fuller told him he had purchased the boat from a man named Frank Marquis.
When deputies checked the state registration database, the victim was listed as the current owner of the vessel, purchased from another man, who had bought the boat from Marquis in 2023.
When deputies confronted Fuller, Fuller produced an application for a title registration in Marquis’ name. On the back of that document was a handwritten note supposedly from Marquis, saying he sold the boat to Fuller in November for $12,000.
Deputies allege the signature did not match signatures provided by Marquis on file with the state. The affidavit says Fuller then said he had lost the current title.
Based on evidence, Fuller was arrested, the affidavit said. The owner then told deputies he noticed items missing from his boat, including batteries, a sail cover and an anchor.
Fuller remains in the Charlotte County Jail.
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