A 35-year-old man was charged on Friday with the theft of the boat being used to dredge the Weeki Wachee River, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
Charles William Fagerstrom, who had no address on paperwork filed with the court, was seen early Wednesday morning by workers who said he was sitting on a bucket on the boat eating potato chips, according to an arrest report. The boat had originally been docked at Rogers Park on Shoal Line Boulevard in Weeki Wachee.
He had not gotten far down the river.
“As patrol deputies responded to the area, the workers maintained visual contact with the vessel and prevented Fagerstrom from bringing it back to the dock or to the shore,” according to the Sheriff’s Office report. “If Fagerstrom attempted to flee the scene, he would have been required to jump in the water to do so.”
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3P6UTB7N2NH2FMVDSBHSOUKYIQ.jpg "Charles William Fagerstrom, who was charged with theft of a vessel and possession of burglary tools.")
When deputies took him into custody, they found the keys to the boat and tools in his pocket which he had used to pry open several compartments on the boat. He was read his rights and admitted that he had tried to steal the boat “but was having difficulty operating it due to parts of the barge equipment being deployed in the water,” according to the report.
“He was only able to travel a very short distance. Fagerstrom went on to say that he planned to use the vessel to “travel on the river,” according to the report, as he knew it was going to be nice day.
Fagerstrom was charged with grand theft of a vessel and possession of burglary tools and remained in the Hernando County Detention Center Friday afternoon on $7,000 bail.
