Three men of Cuban origin were detained at sea after allegedly stealing a boat moored at the rear dock of a residence in North Miami, in what the authorities themselves described as an "unusual" theft, according to a report by Univision Miami.
The incident occurred on Thursday, October 15, around 10:00 PM, at 12921 Harold Road, in the exclusive community of Keystone Point, an area of single-family homes with private docks and direct access to canals connected to Biscayne Bay.
How did the robbery happen?
According to the arrest report, the three suspects accessed the property by navigating through a channel that leads to the back dock of the house, from where they removed the boat without the owner's permission.
The security cameras installed on the property recorded the entire operation, allowing the authorities to identify those involved and act swiftly.
Once the police were notified, the officers located the stolen boat while it was being towed by another vessel in the sea and proceeded to arrest the three men directly in the water, without any of them reaching dry land.
The accused and their accounts
The main accused is Leandro Darian Crespo, a 41-year-old Cuban, who, according to the arrest report, organized the operation and recruited Dennis García and Juan Carlos Sánchez as accomplices to steal the boat.
Crespo provided the detectives with an alternative version: he claimed that he had not stolen the vessel, but had gone to retrieve it because he had sold it at the beginning of 2026 and never received the agreed payment.
That explanation conflicted with the documentation provided by the victim.
“The victim showed him, according to the authorities' report, the official documents that prove he is the owner of this vessel,” Univision 23 Miami noted in its coverage.
Crespo faces a charge of first-degree theft, the most severe level within the classification of theft in Florida, applicable when the value of the stolen property exceeds 100,000 dollars.
State legislation provides for penalties of up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 for this crime.
The specific charges against García and Sánchez were not detailed in the available report.
A vulnerable area due to its geography
Keystone Point is one of the most exclusive areas of North Miami.
Its urban design, featuring canals that connect the properties directly to Biscayne Bay, facilitates water access to private docks without the need to enter by land, making it an environment particularly exposed to this type of crime.
The case is atypical even within the state context.
According to data from the National Institute of Crime Insurance, Florida recorded 891 boat thefts in 2025, approximately 20% of the national total.
However, the vast majority occur when boats are on trailers on land; having a vessel stolen from a private dock via water is a much less common method.
Similar backgrounds in South Florida
This is not the first case of Cubans being arrested for boat thefts in the Miami area. In August 2023, a 59-year-old Cuban was arrested after stealing a boat docked in Brickell and leading police on a chase through Biscayne Bay.
In November 2022, another Cuban stole a 40-foot fishing boat in Marathon, in the Florida Keys, with the declared intention of returning to the island.
The Univision 23 Miami team attempted several times to enter the Keystone Point community to speak with the victim, but they were unable to make contact. The case remains under police investigation.
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