By Kathleen Chaykowski Bloomberg News A total of 538 WaveRunners were stolen last year, the National Insurance Crime Bureau said today in a report. Personal watercraft were the No. 1 boat stolen at 1,373 thefts, followed by runabouts at 937, utility boats at 360, cruisers at 251 and sailboats at 42.“It’s a lot easier to rip jet skis off and hide them someplace,” Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the Des Plaines, Illinois-based NICB, said in a telephone interview before the release. “If you have a large sailboat, there are only so many places you can put that.”Florida reported 1,408 thefts in the period, about 24 percent of the U.S. total of 5,870, the NICB said, citing data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. California was No. 2 with about 10 percent, followed by Texas with about 7 percent.The top four cities based on the total number of thefts were in Florida: Miami was first, followed by Tampa, Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale. Marathon, Florida, had the highest theft rate, with about 64 incidents per 10,000 people, followed by Martinez, California, with about 11.“We’re a boating community,” said Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman at the Sheriff’s Office of Monroe County, which includes Marathon. “The sheer number of boats that are in our county would most likely be a big reason for us ranking highly. Boats are often out in the open and relatively easy to steal if people don’t take appropriate steps.”
Yamaha Motor Co. (7272)’s WaveRunner was the most sought-after watercraft among U.S. thieves in 2012 as Florida had the highest number of stolen boats, an insurance-industry group said.
By Kathleen Chaykowski Bloomberg News A total of 538 WaveRunners were stolen last year, the National Insurance Crime Bureau said today in a report. Personal watercraft were the No. 1 boat stolen at 1,373 thefts, followed by runabouts at 937, utility boats at 360, cruisers at 251 and sailboats at 42.“It’s a lot easier to rip jet skis off and hide them someplace,” Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the Des Plaines, Illinois-based NICB, said in a telephone interview before the release. “If you have a large sailboat, there are only so many places you can put that.”Florida reported 1,408 thefts in the period, about 24 percent of the U.S. total of 5,870, the NICB said, citing data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. California was No. 2 with about 10 percent, followed by Texas with about 7 percent.The top four cities based on the total number of thefts were in Florida: Miami was first, followed by Tampa, Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale. Marathon, Florida, had the highest theft rate, with about 64 incidents per 10,000 people, followed by Martinez, California, with about 11.“We’re a boating community,” said Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman at the Sheriff’s Office of Monroe County, which includes Marathon. “The sheer number of boats that are in our county would most likely be a big reason for us ranking highly. Boats are often out in the open and relatively easy to steal if people don’t take appropriate steps.”
By Kathleen Chaykowski Bloomberg News A total of 538 WaveRunners were stolen last year, the National Insurance Crime Bureau said today in a report. Personal watercraft were the No. 1 boat stolen at 1,373 thefts, followed by runabouts at 937, utility boats at 360, cruisers at 251 and sailboats at 42.“It’s a lot easier to rip jet skis off and hide them someplace,” Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the Des Plaines, Illinois-based NICB, said in a telephone interview before the release. “If you have a large sailboat, there are only so many places you can put that.”Florida reported 1,408 thefts in the period, about 24 percent of the U.S. total of 5,870, the NICB said, citing data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. California was No. 2 with about 10 percent, followed by Texas with about 7 percent.The top four cities based on the total number of thefts were in Florida: Miami was first, followed by Tampa, Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale. Marathon, Florida, had the highest theft rate, with about 64 incidents per 10,000 people, followed by Martinez, California, with about 11.“We’re a boating community,” said Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman at the Sheriff’s Office of Monroe County, which includes Marathon. “The sheer number of boats that are in our county would most likely be a big reason for us ranking highly. Boats are often out in the open and relatively easy to steal if people don’t take appropriate steps.”